wfn.org | United Methodist agency doubles communications scholarships

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Sept. 4, 1998     Contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
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By United Methodist News Service

The United Methodist Church's communications agency is offering
additional scholarships in the 1999-2000 academic year in a move aimed
at meeting the need for more trained communicators in the denomination.
 
United Methodist Communications (UMCom) in Nashville, Tenn., currently
offers two scholarships annually to students entering the field of
religious communications, regardless of denominational affiliation.
However, the additional scholarships will be specifically for United
Methodists.

UMCom's $6,000 Stoody-West Fellowship allows a graduate student pursuing
a career in religious journalism to study at an accredited graduate
school or department of journalism. The agency also awards a $2,500
Leonard M. Perryman Communications Scholarship for Ethnic Minority
Students to a U.S. ethnic minority college student who will be a junior
or senior and is planning a career in religious communications. 

In the next academic year, UMCom will begin offering an additional
scholarship for each of the annual awards. The new scholarships will be
offered solely to United Methodist students pursuing careers in
religious journalism or communications. The application process for each
scholarship begins Oct. 1.

"The new scholarships offered by United Communications address the
denomination's need to develop future qualified Christian communications
professionals," said the Rev. Judy Weidman, chief agency executive.

The Stoody-West Fellowship honors the Rev. Arthur West and the late Rev.
Ralph Stoody, who were staff executives of UMCom or one of its
predecessor agencies.
 
The Perryman scholarship honors Leonard Perryman, a journalist for the
United Methodist Church for more than 30 years. He died in 1983.

For more information on UMCom's annual awards, visit the agency's Web
site at http://www.umc.org/umcom/scholarship/html, send an e-mail to
Scholarships@umcom.umc.org, or write to Scholarship Committee, United
Methodist Communications, P.O. Box 320, Nashville, TN  37202.

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United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/