ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 11, 2012  

ELCA Fund for Leaders honors 2012-2013 scholarship recipients
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     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- As part of its commitment to supporting seminary
students preparing for ministry, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) Fund for Leaders honored 16 first-year seminarians with
full-tuition scholarships starting with the 2012-2013 academic year. Each
student is enrolled in one of the eight ELCA seminaries.
     The students were honored Oct. 5 at a banquet attended by ELCA synod
bishops, synod vice presidents, seminary presidents, churchwide
ministries' leaders, donors and supporters of the ELCA Fund for Leaders.
     "You bring the light of Jesus. You bring the presence of the spirit.
You bring the life of the way of the cross with you, and through you, God
is already renewing this church," said ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S.
Hanson. In his address to the recipients, Hanson thanked ELCA seminaries
and the 65 synods of this church for their role in developing new leaders.
     "Tonight we say thanks be to God for all the people you've brought
with you," Hanson said. "It's the responsibility of everyone in this room,
particularly bishops, vice presidents of synods and seminary faculty to
prepare a church to be ready to receive you," he said, adding, "We've got
to be ready for the church to receive your gifts, your wisdom, your
curiosity, your love for Jesus, your desire to work for justice and peace."
     Students receiving full-tuition scholarships are:
+ Lamar Bailey, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg
+ Brett Betkoski, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
+ Joseph Graumann, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg
+ Daniel Hanson, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.
+ Rachel Harriz, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C.
+ Aleese Kenitzer, Wartburg Theological Seminary, Waverly, Iowa
+ Daniel Locke, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary
+ Dominique McFall, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, Calif.
+ Dione Miller, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
+ Janelle Neubauer, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
+ Lisa Reshad, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio
+ Elyssa Salinas, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
+ Jessica Schenk, Luther Seminary
+ Delaney Schlake, Trinity Lutheran Seminary
+ Paul Waterman, Wartburg Theological Seminary
+ Kaitlin Winter-Eulberg, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary
     The ceremony also included a special presentation from the Rev. Roger
Haug and the Rev. Paige Whitney, Grace Lutheran Church in Waseca, Minn.
Whitney was a Fund for Leaders scholarship recipient in 2007. She and Haug
presented a $250,000 gift to create the Grace Lutheran Church Seminary
Scholarship Fund in honor of the congregation's 75th anniversary this
year. The scholarship gift will be part of the ELCA Southeastern Minnesota
Synod Fund for Leaders endowment.
     Now in its 12th year, the Fund for Leaders is an ELCA initiative to
build an endowed scholarship resource to provide tuition assistance for
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.
     "This is a diverse and exciting group, representative of their
colleagues who are also entering seminary," said Michael Nevergall, who
serves as director for ELCA Fund for Leaders. "I am very excited about
where we are headed."
     Information about the ELCA Fund for Leaders is available at
http://www.ELCA.org/fundforleaders on the ELCA website.
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United
States, with 4.2 million members in nearly 10,000 congregations across the
50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work.
Our hands," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in
Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's
roots are in the writings of the German church reformer, Martin Luther.

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