ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 2, 2007  

ELCA Fund for Leaders Awards 32 Scholarships, Announces Gift Challenge
07-180-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Thirty-two first-year students attending
the eight seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) received full- or partial-tuition scholarships for
the 2007-2008 academic year through the ELCA Fund for Leaders in
Mission. The Fund honored three people who have provided
substantial financial gifts and donated time to support the Fund,
and a new matching gift challenge to double the Fund's endowment
was announced.
     The students and benefactors were honored here in an October
awards program during the ELCA Conference of Bishops' fall 2007
meeting. The Conference of Bishops is an advisory body of the
church, consisting of the ELCA's 65 synod bishops, presiding
bishop and secretary.
     The Fund for Leaders in Mission is an ELCA initiative to
build an endowed scholarship resource that provides tuition
assistance to qualified candidates studying at ELCA seminaries.
When fully endowed the Fund's goal is to provide full-tuition
assistance for every ELCA seminary student committed to a future
in parish ministry.     Benefactors honored were Gunther Holpp,
Lancaster, Pa., and Gilmore and Blanche Tostengard, Tucson, Ariz.
Holpp has provided funds to support a number of Lutheran
organizations and ministries.  The Tostengards provided a gift to
the endowment fund, and Gilmore Tostengard spends one day a week
working on behalf of the fund.
     In the seven years since it was founded, the Fund's
endowment has grown to $15 million, said the Rev. Paul N. Hanson,
director, Fund for Leaders in Mission, ELCA Development Services.
He said $3 million in proceeds from the Fund have been awarded to
280 students, 28 of whom are now serving as ELCA pastors.
     "The needs and realities which the Fund seeks to address
continue to grow.  The costs of seminary education have climbed,"
Hanson said.
     The average seminary debt for new ELCA pastors is about
$38,000.  Students who have received Fund scholarships have
reported smaller debts (about $25,000), he said.
     Nineteen of the ELCA's 65 synods have invested in the Fund
and continue to designate financial awards to seminary students
from their synods. Synod investments in the Fund totals about $3
million, Hanson said.
     Hanson announced details of "Leadership Rising," a three-
year matching gift challenge to double the ELCA Fund for Leaders
endowment to $30 million by 2010.  Three families have pledged
nearly $1 million to match up to 50 percent of new gifts to the
Fund, he said.
     Of this year's recipients, 16 students received full-tuition
scholarships for three years of academic study while attending a
seminary.  The average tuition cost for full-time study in 2007
is $11,000.  Sixteen additional students received partial
scholarships of $3,000 each for each of three years of academic
study.
     The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, presented
the full-tuition scholarships to the seminary students.  "I give
thanks to God for these students and for God's call that has led
them here," he said.
     Students selected for full-tuition scholarships, each
studying for master of divinity degrees, are:

+ Nathaniel Anderson, Easton, Mass.
Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C.

+Andrew Chavanak, Detroit
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Gettysburg, Pa.

+ Kristen Corr, Clinton, Iowa
Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa

+ Micah Garnett, York, Pa.
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg

+ Katrina Harder, Wichita, Kan.
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

+ Shera Hill, Bismarck, N.D.
Wartburg Theological Seminary

+ Matthew Kruse, Jackson, Minn.
Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio

+ Stacy Lauer, Gibsonburg, Ohio
Trinity Lutheran Seminary

+ Carlton Monroe, University Heights, Ohio
Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, Calif.

+ Taryn Montgomery, Monticello, Ill.
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia

+ Krista Oppie, Seattle
Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.

+ Sara Pearson, Omaha, Neb.
Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary

+ Amanda Range, Wilmington, N.C.
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia

+ Kristen Van Stee, Fort Valley, Va.
Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary

+ Monica Villareal, Davison, Mich.
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

+ Paige Whitney, Loveland, Ohio
Luther Seminary
-- -- --

     Information about the Fund for Leaders in Mission is at
http://www.ELCA.org/fundforleaders on the ELCA Web site.


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John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
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