wfn.org | Church agency names scholarship winners

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

March 2, 2000 News media contact: Linda Green·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.
10-22-63-71B{112}

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - Five United Methodists have been named 2000-2001
recipients of two annual scholarships offered by the United Methodist Board
of Higher Education and Ministry.

The awards, made through the board's Office of Loans and Scholarships, go to
United Methodist campus ministers and undergraduate students interested in
campus ministry. The agency is providing $21,700 in assistance through the
Baker Graduate Awards and the Allan Jerome Burry Scholarship.

Baker award recipients will receive a total of $20,000 for advanced study.
They are:

·	John P. Colatch, a doctoral student at Colgate Rochester Divinity
School in Rochester, N.Y.;
·	Janet L. Cromwell, of Eugene, Ore., who is taking a sabbatical for
studies;
·	John Mark Forrester, a doctoral student at Columbia Theological
Seminary in Decatur, Ga.; and
·	Julie F. Parker, a student at Yale University Divinity School.

The Burry Scholarship winner, receiving $1,700 is:

·	Shannon F. Dunn, a sophomore at the University of Puget Sound in
Tacoma, Wash.

Named for the late Bishop James C. Baker, the Baker Awards are given to
campus ministers continuing their education through a full-time degree
program or certification, a certified non-degree program, or an independent
studies program. Baker began a program for college students attending the
University of Illinois in 1913. He named it the "Wesley Foundation," and it
became the model for denominational ministry at public universities
throughout the United States.

Colatch, a first time Baker Award recipient, is the chaplain at Allegheny
College in Meadville, Pa.  He is pursuing a doctorate degree in
transformational leadership from Colgate Rochester Divinity School.

Cromwell, also a first-time Baker Award recipient, is director/campus pastor
at the Wesley Foundation at the University of Oregon in Eugene. She plans to
use her sabbatical study time to "explore the current cutting edge in United
Methodist campus ministry and to look at our denominational ministries that
appear to be drawing a large number of students." She is interested in
learning more about how these ministries incorporate technology and the
visual arts, provide mission and service opportunities, and develop student
leadership.

A four-time Baker recipient, Forrester is the United Methodist campus
minister at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He is a doctoral student at
Columbia Theological Seminary and has served the Tennessee Annual Conference
as a campus minister since 1991.

Having a goal to teach the Bible as a college chaplain or professor made
Parker a Baker recipient for a second time. She is a member of the New York
Annual Conference and is working on a master of sacred theology degree.

"The Campus Ministry Section (of the Board of Higher Education and Ministry)
is delighted that four of our colleagues have been awarded this prestigious
gift," said the Rev. Luther B. Felder II, the top executive in the campus
ministry office. "Bishop Baker would be richly blessed to know that an award
in his name is continuing to enhance this essential ministry."

The Burry scholarship honors the former campus ministry staff person at the
Board of Higher Education and Ministry. The Rev. Burry died in August 1990.
The award recognizes a student's academic performance, leadership skills and
involvement in a United Methodist-related campus ministry or chaplaincy
program.

Shannon, a member of Asbury United Methodist Church in Livermore, Calif., is
a peer minister in her campus ministry group and has taken a leadership role
in the university's Religious Organization Council. She will receive her
award during the 2000 Student Forum of the United Methodist Church, set for
May 25-28 at Clark Atlanta University.

Information about educational scholarships and loans in the United Methodist
Church can be found at www.gbhem.org/gbhem/loans2.html online or by
contacting the Office of Loans and Scholarships, P.O. Box 340007, Nashville,
TN  37203-0007; scholarship phone: (615) 340-7344; loan phone: (615)
340-7367.

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United Methodist News Service
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