By Shay Bowman
This year, the city of Buena Vista has been juggling changes in leadership, vacancies in city positions, a wastewater treatment plant violating discharge regulations and a budget shortage exceeding $400,000.
Beneath all these issues, decades-old religious tensions continue to divide the community.
“People have the mindset that the Mormons need to leave, and that can’t be,” Ron Cash said.
Today, tension between members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and those who do not follow the LDS doctrine persists in the city. Many residents said that the divide is often not seen on the surface of everyday interactions, but it’s a persistent undercurrent in political spaces, public forums and town-gown interactions.
“There is still a significant anti-Mormon mindset in Buena Vista, and we have got to get over that,” council member Ron Cash said. “It’s unconscionable that people continue to do that, and I know they still do. I hear it all the time, and it’s not right.”
The tension dates back to 1996, when a group of Latter-day Saints led by Glade Knight acquired Southern Virginia College, which was previously called Southern Seminary and Junior College. In 2001, the school changed its name to Southern Virginia University.
Many residents said the tension mostly exists behind closed doors, but that the mayoral election in November between former mayor Tyson Cooper and current mayor Jesse Lineberry amplified the underlying division.
Around the same time, public discussions about SVU’s plans to build a six-story dormitory highlighted the ongoing friction.
Then, in January, former council member Steve Webb resigned, citing religious division that was intensified by the election.
“There was some fear mongering that went on prior to the election, and I think that was unwarranted,” Stephanie Hardy said. “But it did sway a lot of people and it’s regrettable.”
SVU religious ties amplify tensions
Buena Vista resident Jennifer Humphrey attended Southern Seminary, a school that was set to close until being bought by members of the LDS church and transforming into a private, liberal-arts college: Southern Virginia University. Her daughter, who is Catholic, attended SVU.
“They saved the college basically. It was a good thing, but a lot of people don’t believe so,” Humphrey said. “If they had not bought it, it would have sat empty and it would have fallen into ruin.”
The private institution is not directly affiliated or owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but is strongly aligned with the faith. More than nine in 10 students are members of the church and a third are students who are attending college after serving as missionaries, according to SVU’s website.
But members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been in Buena Vista long before the founding of SVU.
Jared Huntsman, the stake president for Buena Vista, said he believes Buena Vista’s first congregation was officially formed in 1953, but that the church has over 100 years of history in the area. He said some people were hesitant about the church at first, as its presence grew in the city.
“In the early days of the church, people weren’t familiar,” Huntsman said. “They didn’t really understand what this was all about. I think there was maybe some fear in the early days of the church in this area.”
LDS church boosts city economy
Cressia Roberts, the president of Buena Vista Community Garden, said the school and the prominent LDS population have been critical to economic stability in the city.
“It is an economically depressed area to start with, and a lot of our factories and things have gone,” Roberts said. “When you lose those big factories, that means people have to go elsewhere to work and so the school being here and the LDS community being here has kept Buena Vista from becoming a ghost town.”
At the city council meeting on April 2, Cash expressed concerns about the loss of several large factories, including the Bonded Fibers plant, bus manufacturing company Blue Bird, axle manufacturer Dana Corporation and Bernson Silk Mills.
“All these tax-producing businesses are gone and they’re not coming back,” Cash said. “Buena Vista has got to find a way to make up our budget shortfall.”
Buena Vista’s financial situation has improved in recent years since it settled debt created by the Vista Links Golf Course in 2024. But it is still facing fiscal challenges, including a budget shortfall of about $450,000, heading into the upcoming fiscal year.
The shortfall was originally projected at $1.9 million, but interim city manager Wayne Handley said the city is steadily chipping away at the gap.
The city is also trying to track down a total of more than $1.3 million in delinquent taxes.
Economic Development Director Kristina Ramsey said many businesses downtown now are owned by graduates of SVU or people who are affiliated with the university.
“We’re a college town,” Ramsey said. “We need the schools to drive the economy in a lot of cases, so we’re grateful for it.”
Students help bridge divide
SVU students have also been heavily involved with community service in the city. SVU senior Marisa Marvel led the effort to clear snow from driveways and sidewalks for residents in Buena Vista, after the snow froze to ice in early February.
“As a church I think we feel like our role is to not change the community but to add to the goodness that’s already here,” Bill Braddy said
She said the students want to bridge the divide between the school and local residents.
“We have been trying to bridge the gap that we feel like there is,” Marvel told the Rockbridge Report in February. “I don’t know, sometimes it feels like we’re like up on this hill and we’re just so far away from the community.”
Bill Braddy, a local LDS church leader, said students’ commitment to service has helped strengthen their connection to residents in the city.
“I think the students of Southern Virginia University have won over the hearts of many people in the community because of their service,” Braddy said.
Roberts said SVU students also volunteer often in the community garden and in other places throughout the city. She said their involvement and business is essential to keeping the city afloat.
“If SVU was not there, then I doubt very seriously that Buena Vista would have survived the last 20 years,” Roberts said.
Election stoked religious tensions
The mayoral election last fall reignited much of the religious tension in the city, several Buena Vista residents said. Humphrey said some people felt that Cooper showed favoritism towards Mormons.
“Tyson Cooper was an excellent mayor, and he did a lot for this community,” Humphrey said. “He basically got slapped in the face and I’m sure it hurt him greatly. People said that he put the Mormon church first over B.V. and I don’t believe that.”
Stephanie Hardy, a co-owner of Leaf and Lore and a member of the LDS church, said she heard similar sentiments. Cooper is her son-in-law.
“There was some political play on that,” Hardy said. “There was some fear mongering that went on prior to the election, and I think that was unwarranted, but it did sway a lot of people and it’s regrettable.”
In his resignation letter, Webb said Cooper was “judged by the voters for his religious beliefs” and that he was not reelected “not because he did anything wrong but because of his religion.”
Webb added that the voters have “split Buena Vista into two groups, Mormon versus non-Mormon,” which has “driven a wedge” in the city. Webb declined to comment.
Residents experience anti-LDS sentiment
Several residents said the divide is stronger in private than in public forums.
Chris Shiraki, who owns the White Tree Inn with his wife Marie Shiraki, said that while many incidents are only rumors, they have experienced some examples of anti-LDS sentiment first-hand.
“Certain churches had campaigns that were basically anti-Mormon,” Chris Shiraki said. “They would go around and hang anti-Mormon CDs on the doors of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
But Marie Shiraki said isolated instances are not representative of the overall positive experience they’ve had in Buena Vista. She said she hopes relationships continue to strengthen across religious lines.
“Get to know your neighbors. Get to know people who are different, who think differently and choose peace,” Shiraki said. “It’s our choice and we can create contention in our community or we can build peace.”
Braddy said he has not experienced religious tension and thinks people who create division are in the minority. He said Buena Vista has been very welcoming.
“As a church I think we feel like our role is to not change the community but to add to the goodness that’s already here,” Braddy said. “I know there are people that say things. I really think they are outliers. I really believe they are the exception to the rule.”
Doug Cheney, a math professor at SVU who is an LDS church member, said he thinks any perceived tension is about demographic differences, not religious ones.
“You have a blue-collar town that has had some hard times,” Cheney said. “There’s just a natural tension that develops that’s demographic and not religious.”
Huntsman said he thinks Buena Vista is a wonderful community, where people support one another. He said people should focus on being united rather than on their differences.
“If there is anyone that has animosity towards the church, if I could just express my apology and express my love to them,” Huntsman said. “We are more the same than we are different, and there is no need for us to fight amongst one another.”
Cash said at one time he had prejudice against Mormons, but that he has come to realize he was wrong. Cash, who goes to the Buena Vista Pentecostal Holiness Church, said he does not agree with the Mormon doctrine in the same way he does not follow the doctrines of Baptist, Episcopalian, or Lutheran denominations. That, he said, is the fundamental principle of religious freedom.
He said the community needs to be more accepting of one another.
“People have the mindset that the Mormons need to leave, and that can’t be,” Cash said. “As Americans, they have every right to be here and worship and follow the doctrine that they believe in. They have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, just like you and I.”