Twelve ELCA Seminarians Receive Full-Tuition Scholarships

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
is seeing the "first fruits" of a challenge gift from the ELCA Mission
Investment Fund (MIF). Four seminarians received the first full-tuition
scholarships from the ELCA Mission Developer Scholarship Fund, and
another eight seminarians received full-tuition scholarships from the
ELCA Fund for Leaders at an Oct. 22 banquet here.
     The new ELCA Mission Developer Scholarship Fund will support
seminarians studying to become congregational mission developers at any
of the eight ELCA seminaries. For every $2 the church raises, the Mission
Investment Fund will contribute $1, up to a total gift of $1.5 million.
     "This church needs pastors who have the gifts and passion for
starting new congregations," said Christina Jackson-Skelton, ELCA
treasurer and MIF president. By establishing the ELCA Mission Developer
Scholarship Fund, "MIF is supporting the development of pastors who will
lead our outreach efforts in the coming years. It is core to what the
Mission Investment Fund is all about -- supporting the growth of the
Lutheran church and, as part of that, recognizing the critical role of
leadership in enabling our church to thrive," she said.
     The first four seminarians to receive ELCA Mission Developer
Scholarships are:
+ Tsena Birassa Dinssa of Dallas, at Pacific Lutheran Theological
Seminary (PLTS), Berkeley, Calif.
+ Denise Elaine Keltz of Clearfield, Pa., at Lutheran Theological
Seminary at Gettysburg (LTSG), Pa.
+ Elizabeth Ann Krolak of Rochester, Minn., at Luther Seminary, St. Paul,
Minn.
+ Scott Rene Simmons of Keensburg, Colo., at Luther Seminary
     The eight students receiving full-tuition scholarships this year
from the ELCA Fund for Leaders are:
+ Sara Jane Baublitz of Pittsburgh, at Lutheran Theological Seminary at
Philadelphia
+ Angela Katherine Busch of Maple Grove, Minn., at Luther Seminary
+ Christa Marianne Compton of Lexington, S.C., at PLTS
+ Lee Robert Gable of Kylertown, Pa., at Wartburg Theological Seminary,
Dubuque, Iowa
+ Lorne Robert Hlad of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, at Trinity Lutheran Seminary,
Columbus, Ohio
+ Annabelle Peake of North Bethesda, Md., at LTSG
+ Sarah Wold Rohde of Sioux Falls, S.D., at Lutheran Theological Seminary
at Chicago
+ Matthew Marcus Smith of Boone, N.C., at Lutheran Theological Southern
Seminary, Columbia, S.C.
     Another eight seminarians received partial-tuition scholarships from
the ELCA Fund for Leaders.
     The Fund for Leaders is a seminary scholarship program created by
the ELCA to ensure that new leaders can accept the call to ministry.
Since 2000, more than $4.6 million in scholarship support has been
distributed for 516 students enrolled at ELCA seminaries. Currently 66
scholarship recipients are serving in ELCA congregations and other
ministry settings.
     In his written report to the ELCA's 2009 Churchwide Assembly, the
Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop, said, "The Mission Investment
Fund, in response to conversations about seminary student debt, gave a
$1.5 million gift to the Fund for Leaders in Mission to launch a new
matching gift program to provide $4.5 million for seminary scholarships
for future mission developers."
     Through the Mission Investment Fund, individual members,
congregations and ministries of the ELCA can purchase investments,
earning interest at competitive rates. With these investments, Mission
Investment Fund makes loans to help congregations and related ministries
with building and renovation projects and land purchases.
     The Mission Investment Fund has nearly 800 active loans totaling
more than $475 million to ELCA congregations and related ministries
including seminaries, outdoor ministries and social ministry
organizations throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S.
Virgin Islands.
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     More information is at http://www.ELCA.org/fundforleaders and
http://www.ELCA.org/mif on the ELCA Web site.

EDITORS: The spellings of all names have been checked for accuracy.

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