Athens has many different religious organizations and groups, welcoming people of all religions to practice their own comfortably. Throughout the county, Athens houses 84 places of worship, some of these churches are located in Albany or the Plains but are still registered under Athens County.
About 20.2% of people in Athens would consider themselves religious, with Protestantism (15.9%) being the most dominant religion.
With this, many different religious organizations have come about since Athens’ founding. For example, the Catholic presence at Ohio University has been around for over a century.
Sam Weinandy, director of campus ministry, spoke about the history of Catholicism in connection to the school and students.
“It’s gone under a couple of different names, but the Catholic presence for OU has been here since 1920,” he said.
OU Catholics is just one of the many different religious organizations Athens has. The organization specifically works in collaboration with students.
“OU Catholic’s is a group of undergraduate Catholics at OU that come together for a social group, a support group, a group of people who agree in the Catholic faith,” Weinandy said.
OU Catholics provide these students with a safe space to learn more about their faith, as well as providing an outlet for students to engage with like-minded individuals.
Weinandy estimated although 150 students are signed up to receive emails and communications about 80-100 students continually show up for OU Catholic events.
H20 church, Cru at OU, Brookfield Church, Muslim Student Association and Chabad, are some of the many organizations for students to participate in.
Athens hosts a diverse culture of religion and welcomes those in all religious communities. Weinandy discussed Athens’ religious climate.
“I think Athens is a very welcoming community for Catholics, for Christians or Muslims and Jewish people and you know all the different faith experiences,” he said. “I think Athens is very welcoming to that.”
While Athens has many churches, OU offers a sanctuary for Jewish students as well.
Chabad of Ohio University has been an active group on campus since 2015, created by Levi Raichick and his wife Chanee, Raichick is the rabbi and director of Chabad at OU.
Raichick spoke about the history behind the Chabad organization.
“Chabad itself is a global group that was founded in the 1700s, so it’s all over the world, and for many centuries,” he said. “We just started the Chabad branch at OU in 2015.”
Chabad is open for any Jewish student at OU, offering an organization and space to further cultivate one’s faith.
One fun thing Chabad does is host a weekly religious dinner every Friday night. Raichick spoke about students’ participation in this weekly dinner.
“They come every single Friday night to a Shabbat dinner, which is a religious event, and it’s fun, and we eat and have a good time,” he said. (5:06)
Chabad’s main mission is to include every Jewish student and to welcome them into their community.
Organizations such as these allow students to continue to foster and practice their religion, even when they move away from home. These groups also allow students to meet other students who share the same faith, and interest in learning more about such faith.
Michael Wells, a senior studying chemical engineering, spoke about how welcoming OU Catholics was.
“The people I met there were really kind, sweet, and loving and so it just seemed like a community I wanted to be a part of,” he said. (1:44)
Wells also discussed OU Catholics allowing him to meet many different people from different backgrounds, all while still being able to come together for their Catholic faith.
“You get to bond over this one thing, it’s just been really cool,” he said.
Athens welcomes students and citizens to freely and comfortably practice their religion and these various diverse organizations provide a safe space in which to do that.
“College is a journey, being at OU is a place for learning and a place for discovery and that I hope people are doing that in their faith experience within their own faith traditions,” Weinandy said.
