ELCA NEWS SERVICE June 25, 2009 ELCA Students Awarded National Leadership Development Fellowships 09-137-CD* CHICAGO (ELCA)-- Sixteen undergraduate, graduate and seminary students of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) were recognized by the Fund for Theological Education (FTE) as "2009 Fellows." The Fund, based in Atlanta, awarded more than $1.5 million in fellowships and program support to 163 students in the United States and Canada, representing more than 30 denominations. Recipients of 2009 FTE Fellowships will also attend leadership development events at Virginia Theological Seminary, Alexandria, Va., and at Vanderbilt University Divinity School, Nashville, Tenn. The ELCA recipients represent a broad range of students. There are five ELCA "Undergraduate Fellows" -- college sophomores and junior interested in ministry -- who were each awarded $2,000 stipends. "Congregational Fellowships" were awarded to seven first-year ELCA seminary students. The FTE matches a congregational donation to the fellow's education between $2,000 and $5,000. There was one "Volunteers Exploring Vocation Fellow" for the ELCA, who was awarded a $2,500 stipend for his first year of seminary. To become a Volunteers Fellow, students must attend one of 11 national faith-based volunteer programs. Two continuing ELCA seminary students were named "Ministry Fellows," and each was awarded a $10,000 stipend to cover educational and living expenses, and to fund a self-designed ministry project. One North American "Doctoral Fellow" from the ELCA was awarded a $15,000 stipend for the year. The Fund for Theological Education is an ecumenical body dedicated to promoting and advocating diversity in Christian ministry and theological scholarship, according to a FTE press release. The Fund has awarded $16 million in support to nearly 1,500 students in the past decade. The 2009 FTE Fellows from the ELCA are: + Carolyn B. Albert, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LTSC), Ministry Fellow + Christine C. Anderson, LSTC, Congregational Fellow + Katherine M. Chatelaine, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, N.J., Congregational Fellow + Linnéa K. Clark, Yale University, New Haven, Conn., Undergraduate Fellow + Benjamin C. Hilding, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., Congregational Fellow + Daniel R. Jacob, Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio, Undergraduate Fellow + Daniel H. Liles, California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, Undergraduate Fellow + Samantha M. Lyon, Concordia College, Sioux Falls, S.D., Undergraduate Fellow + Timothy G. Maybee, Luther Seminary, Congregational Fellow + Wesley R. Menke, Claremont School of Theology, Claremont, Calif., Congregational Fellow + Anders W. Peterson, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, Calif., Ministry Fellow + Sarah W. Rohde, LSTC, Congregational Fellow + Elizabeth G. Singleton, Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D., Undergraduate Fellow + Nathan C. Sutton, LSTC, Congregational Fellow + Sadeer Yadav, Duke Divinity School, Durham, N.C., North American Doctoral Fellow + Tyler J. Zoanni, Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass., Volunteers Exploring Vocation Fellow --- * Carrie L. Draeger is a senior communication major with a concentration in journalism at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash. This summer she is an intern with the ELCA News Service. For more information on the Fund for Theological Education, visit http://www.thefund.org on the Web. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog