History of the Bible Chair in Canyon, Texas

The idea of establishing a Bible Chair at West Texas State College, located in Canyon, TX, had its beginning in the spring of 1949. It was first suggested by R.H. Jennings in cooperation with the elders of the Central Church of Christ in Canyon and assisted by Joe Watson, the regular minister of the church.

The possibilities of establishing a Chair of Religion were presented to elders, deacons, and ministers of West Texas at a church gathering, and the idea had a tremendous impact upon those present. As a result, the task of establishing a Bible Chair was put in motion. Because of the enthusiasm manifested by all who came, the elders of the church at Canyon expressed their willingness to oversee the work.

In 1950, the Central Church of Christ in Canyon borrowed $15,000 and purchased a residence adjacent to West Texas State College and west of the Panhandle Plains Museum. The building was remodeled so as to include a classroom, office, and apartment for the director and his family. Even though the building has changed over the years, the location for the “Chair” has remained the same throughout its history.

The primary purpose of the “Chair” in these early days was to teach Bible to students for college credit with a secondary purpose to reach and teach Church of Christ students and provide a nucleus for them while in college while evangelizing any student who expressed an interest in learning more about the church.

In the summer of the same year, the Central Church of Christ secured the services of Earl F. Craig to be the instructor and director of the Chair. Brother Craig was a graduate of A.C.C. and earned his M.A. degree from West Texas State College.

On January 1, 1954, Earl Craig submitted his resignation to accept the work as minister of the Church of Christ in Corsicana, TX. From February 1st to June 1st, Brother Joe Watson taught the credit classes at the Bible Chair followed by Brother Carver from Amarillo during the summer months.

On September 1, 1954, the Central Church of Christ in Canyon, TX hired C.L. Kay to be the director of the Bible Chair. Brother Kay entered Freed-Hardman College in 1948, from which he graduated in 1950. He furthered his academic training at Eastern New Mexico University where he received his bachelor of arts degree in 1952. One year later, he finished his master of arts degree from ENMU. His academic training consisted, mainly, in the fields of Religion, English, and History. Prior to moving to Canyon, C.L. Kay served as minister of the Church of Christ in Henrietta, TX for 14 months.

During his tenure, the original building housing the Bible Chair was relocated to another property in Canyon and a 5,500 square foot building was erected in its place across from Panhandle Plains Historical Museum. This building contained offices, two classrooms, a library, a lounge, an assembly room, a bed room, restrooms, and a fellowship hall. The expansion was financed by area Churches of Christs for a total cost of $43,000 and is the north part of the current building.

In 1957, C.L. Kay resigned to accept a position at Lubbock Christian College and Douglass Rohre was hired to replace him as the director.

Douglass Rohre attended Abilene Christian College and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in Bible and then received his master of arts degree. He also attended Texas Christian University and took courses at the University of Texas. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1946-1949 and 1950-1954. His daughter, Sherry, later married David Watlington who served as a Bible Chair Associate from 1980-1984.

In June of 1959, Brother Rohre resigned as director of the Bible Chair to assume the duties as minister of the Colorado and Jackson Street Church of Christ in San Angelo, TX. During the last semester of his tenure, enrollment in Bible Chair accredited classes and events reached 105 which was considered one of the highest enrollments in the history of the chair.

Following Douglass Rohre’s resignation, Gordon L. Downing accepted the role as director. The Downings moved to Canyon from Abilene, TX where he had served as the minister of the Northside Church of Christ.

Prior to his work in Abilene, Mr. Downing preached five years for the City Park congregation in Floydada, TX, and from 1946 until 1949, he attended college at Abilene Christian College and received his B.A. degree in Bible with minors in Greek and speech.

During the late 1960s, West Texas State College changed from a regional teacher’s college to a state university, and in 1963, the school’s name was changed to West Texas State University. During this change, the Bible Chair continued to thrive and offered accredited Bible classes to the students while continuing campus ministry on the WTSU campus.

In late 1967, the Chair was presented with the opportunity to purchase the Methodist Student Center directly south of the Bible Chair, and in August 1969, the two buildings were joined to create the current Bible Chair building used today. The new addition almost doubled the square footage used by the Bible Chair and included an apartment, small chapel, and a large room with a fireplace, which was ideal for fireside devotionals. It also provided additional classroom and office space.

Gordon Downing continued to serve as the director until 1973, when Bob Shepard was selected to be the next Bible Chair Director.

A Plainview native, the 30-year old Bob Shephard came to WTSU in June 1973 from Edmond, OK. Bob received his Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry in 1965 from Texas Tech University where he first became interested in campus ministry. After attending Harding Graduate School, Bob worked as the full time minister at the Church of Christ in Elaine, AR. He stated, “It was here, actually, that I was really inspired about working with young people and encouraged to seek further into campus ministry.”

After receiving his Master of Theology degree in the Spring of 1968, Bob then served four years as Campus Minister for South Eastern State College in Durrant, OK, and then spent one year as Campus Minister to Central State University in Edmond, OK.

In the late 1980s, due to legislative and cultural changes, the primary focus of the Bible Chair changed from teaching accredited college Bible classes to full time campus ministry. During this time of transition and through 2022, accredited Bible Classes were still offered but campus ministry became the primary focus which Bob and his staff embraced and effectively adapted to.

On September 1, 1990, West Texas State University joined the Texas A&M University System and became known as West Texas A&M University in 1993. This change brought about many challenges and opportunities for the Bible Chair, but was successfully led through the change by Bob Shephard and his secretary, Ann Lee Collier, who retired in 1994 after serving in this position for 19 years.

In the Fall of 2003, the process of ‘rebranding’ the Chair from the Church of Christ Bible Chair (CCBC) to “Buffs for Christ” began. Becky Hallmark, Bible Chair secretary, was the first to suggest the name and the students loved the idea since it incorporated the WTAMU mascot into their name. The name helps identify the ministry with the WT campus as well as emphasizing their mission to take the message of Christ to the WTAMU campus.

After serving the students for 38 years, a major renovation to the Bible Chair building was began in 2007. The initial estimate of the remodel was $100,000, however; after the discovery of asbestos during the remodel, the cost skyrocketed to $750,000. Even though the cost greatly exceeded the initial estimate, the cost to construct a new building would have far exceed the renovation cost, and therefore; the decision was made to continue with the renovation.

In 2008 and after 35 years serving the students at WT, Bob Shepard and his wife Linda retired from campus ministry. Their impact on the students at WTSU and WTA&M is immeasurable and numerous students count them as their mentors in shaping their Christian lives.

David Lough, pulpit minister of University Church of Christ in Canyon, stated, “Bob never lost sight of what he believed God wanted him to do; to train students to be vital, involved members of local congregations. His greatest joy is to hear that one of his former students is respected for his or her involvement in the church. Whether they have become elders, deacons, Bible class teachers, youth leaders, or moms and dads, he is as proud of them as he can be.”

Following Bob’s retirement in January 2009, Kent Mereness became the full-time director of the Bible Chair. Kent grew up in Sweetwater, Dumas, and graduated from Amarillo High School in 1998. He graduated Magnum Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Bible from Lubbock Christian University in 2002, and on August 9, 2008, he graduated with a Master of Arts in Communications from Texas Tech University.

Kent and his wife, Brynn’s, first challenge as the director was to complete the Bible Chair Renovation. After 2½ years of numerous challenges being conquered and countless hours from volunteers assisting with the renovation, the renovated building opened in the Fall of 2009. Additionally, within 2 years, the Lord provided and all the money that had been used for the renovation was received through generous donations from Christians, and last loan was repaid.

During the renovation, one room at the Chair was designated as the Kathy Gist Women’s Bible Study and Prayer room to give the female students a place to relax and hold women devotionals.

In 2009, the Bible Chair and Tim Myers, Associate Bible Chair Minister, coordinated the first ever Shack-A-Thon/Give a Goat Program on the WTAMU campus. For 11 years, it was an annual event where WTAMU students built and stayed overnight in cardboard box shacks and raised funds to buy goats for drought-stricken Kenya. The event raised over $250,000 during its 11-year span which provided approximately 5,000 goats to Kenya through the Chistian Relief Fund.

As with all religious organizations, 2020 was a challenging year for the Bible Chair with the outbreak of COVID-19. However; Kent successfully led the students through the pandemic and the Bible Chair began to rebuild from the epidemic.

The 2020s also brought to light a new issue for campus ministries across the USA, funding. It is estimated that over 300 college campus ministries were present in the nation during the 1970s and 1980s, however; this number had decreased to less than 100 in the 2020s. The major reason for this decline was primarily due to funding.

The WT Bible Chair was not immune from this issue either. In contrast to the late sixties and seventies when the WT Bible Chair was funded by 54 congregations in the Texas Panhandle, the number had dropped to 20. This decrease appears to be due to population shifts and economic downfalls in the Texas Panhandle with many of these congregations ceasing to exist while others were unable to support the Bible Chair ministry due to declining congregational members.

In an effort to address this issue, the Bible Chair pursued the option of creating a non-profit foundation to provide for the perpetual funding of the Bible Chair.

Under the leadership of Casey Bradshaw, Kent Mereness, and Bob Shepard, the idea of a foundation became a reality in 2024 with the creation of the Herd Fund Foundation. The premise of the foundation is to still rely on local congregations to support the work on the WTAMU campus but also encourage alumni and local businesses to take an active role in its funding. Donations to the Foundation are invested and the earnings are used to supplement the Bible Chair activities and operations.

2022 brought Kent Mereness a new opportunity to serve as the South Plains Church of Chist University Minister in Lubbock, TX, and Chance Herron was selected to become the eighth director of the Bible Chair.

Chance was involved with Buffs for Christ as a student from 2014 to 2017. After earning his B.S. in Agricultural Education, he spent four years serving in various youth ministry roles before returning to Buffs for Christ in the fall of 2021 to serve as an Associate Minister under the supervision of Kent Mereness. That same year, he married his wife, Kara, and then became the official director in 2022. Chance completed his M.A. in Christian Ministry from Lubbock Christian University in the spring of 2024.

In the summer of 2025, the library at the Chair was renovated to become the Bob and Linda Shepard Study where students could relax and study in a quiet environment.

The Bible Chair continues to be a vital part of the WTAMU culture, and in 2025, the Bible Chair celebrated its 75 Anniversary with a Celebration and Reunion on October 3rd, 4th, and 5th.

We look forward to the next 75 years and hope that all will join us in spreading the Lord’s Word on the campus of WTAMU through your prayers and financial support to Buffs for Christ and/or the Herd Fund Foundation.

This 2025 article is a compilation from several authors over the Bible Chair’s history and was compiled and edited by Glen Clugy, Church of Christ Bible Chair class of 1985.