wfn.org | Loans and Scholarships office announces awards

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

April 7, 2000  News media contact: Linda Green·(615)742-5470·Nashville,
Tenn.     10-63-71B{185}

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) -- Eleven graduate students will split $34,000 in
the next academic year as they work toward becoming local church Christian
educators and professors.

Ten of the students are the recipients of the John Q. Schisler Graduate
awards for the 2000-2001 academic year, and one will receive the Rosalie
Bentzinger Graduate Award.

Given by the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry's
Office of Loans and Scholarships, the Schisler awards total $29,000 and the
Bentzinger grant is $5,000.

The scholarships honor the late John Q. Schisler, executive secretary of the
former Methodist Board of Education's local church division. Graduate
students receive the annual award on the basis of academic standing,
leadership ability, character, need, vocational goals in Christian
education, and commitment to Christ and the mission of the church.
Selections for the award are made by the board's section on deacons and
diaconal ministries. 

The 2000-2001 Schisler recipients are:
·	Brandon K. Dirks, Pfeiffer University, Misenheimer, N.C.;
·	Paige Eaves, Candler School of Theology, Atlanta;
·	Dan L. Gray Jr., Duke University, the Divinity School, Durham, N.C.;
·	Rachel A. Metheny, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, Calif.;
·	Carmen D. Pickett, Drew University, Madison, N.J.;
·	 William L. Podschun, Perkins School of Theology, Dallas;
·	April N. Rodeslier, Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Ky.;
·	Yvette M. Roselieb, Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary,
Evanston, Ill.;
·	Cheryl A. Skinner, Duke University, the Divinity School, Durham;
·	Latoya D. Wilson, Perkins School of Theology, Dallas.
	
The 2000-2001 recipient of the Bentzinger award is Lynn Marie Somers, a
student at Union Institute in Cincinnati.
	
The grant was named for a retired executive in the Board of Higher Education
and Ministry's former division of diaconal ministry. The scholarship is
awarded to a United Methodist student pursuing a doctorate degree in
Christian education at a graduate theological school. 

Somers plans to teach basic religious education curriculum in a seminary.
She hopes to specialize in children's ministry, arts and media in ministry,
and the administration of Christian education.

She received a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Asbury College in
Wilmore, Ky., and a master of arts and theological studies and master of
arts in religion education from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.
She has served local churches as an outreach worker and program consultant
and is the founder and president of Hand of the Master Ministries Inc.
	
"The mission of Hand of the Master Ministries is to minister and serve
others by using various media to empower, encourage and equip people of all
ages for daily discipleship and celebration of God's love," she said.
	
Somers is a certified diaconal minister in Christian education and is a
member of the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference.

For more information on the graduate awards, contact the Office of Loans and
Scholarships, online at www.gbhem.org/gbhem/loans2.html or at P.O. Box
340007, Nashville, TN 37203-0007; scholarships phone: (615) 340-7344; loans
phone: (615) 340-7346; fax: (615) 340-7367. 

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United Methodist News Service
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