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UMCom scholarships enable telling church's story

Apr. 28, 2005

NOTE: Photographs of Jenielle Wong and Luther Oconer are available at
umns.umc.org.

By Linda Green*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)-Two students interested in journalism careers
will receive aid through United Methodist Communications scholarship
programs in the coming academic year.

Jenielle K. Wong, a junior at the University of the Pacific in Stockton,
Calif., was named winner of the Leonard M. Perryman Communications
Scholarship for Ethnic Minority Students. The scholarship provides
$2,500 to an ethnic minority junior or senior pursuing a career in
journalism. The late Leonard Perryman was a journalist for the United
Methodist Church for more than 30 years.

The Rev. Luther J. Oconer, a doctoral student at United
Methodist-related Drew University in Madison, N.J., will receive a
$6,000 Stoody-West Fellowship. The Stoody-West Fellowship was named for
the late Rev. Arthur West of Lebanon, Ohio, and the late Rev. Ralph
Stoody, who were staff executives of UMCom or a predecessor agency.

The Commission on Communication's scholarship committee chose the
winners from six Stoody-West applicants and a Perryman applicant during
its April 12 meeting. The commission oversees UMCom. All of the
scholarships are for the 2005-06 year and are awarded on a one-time
basis.

"Both the undergraduate scholarship and the graduate fellowship for
communications students are important because the church needs to
continue to help nurture and develop strong religion communicators to
tell the stories of the impact of our Lord and Savior in profound and
life-changing ways," said Amelia Tucker-Shaw, resource consultant at
United Methodist Communications.

"Without the religion communicator, how will we continue to make
disciples for Jesus Christ and continue to tell the historical stories
of how God sent His beloved son for the tsunamis, the unchurched and
those seeking to know God?" she asked.

Wong, a native of Castro Valley, Calif., and member of Chinese Community
United Methodist Church in Oakland, Calif., is a communication major and
serves on the executive board for two professional student
organizations. She is district director of the Lodi region for Brian
Hurricane, a Michigan-based company that offers supplemental educational
resources to underprivileged children in the Stockton and Lodi areas.

"I am honored to be the recipient of the Perryman scholarship," she
said. Being supported by such a "worthy cause as the United Methodist
Church is wonderful," she added.

She wants to use her communications skills in working with children. "I
feel that God has blessed me with effective communications skills, and I
hope to use these as a director for an educational institution for
children. Wherever God leads me next, the basis of communication will
always be rooted in my religion."

Oconer, who was ordained in 2004, says receiving the Stoody-West
Fellowship will help him with his goal of rehabilitating the Methodist
Publishing House in Manila when he receives his doctorate degree. A
student at Drew University, Oconer is from Sta. Maria Village II in
Balibago.

He wants to combine his journalism experience with his Wesleyan and
Methodist studies "to write relevant ... materials to help inform and
educate the United Methodist Church in the Philippines." He is
redesigning his Website at www.philmethodist.com into a Filipino
Methodist Internet news magazine, which he said could lead to the
creation of a Filipino Methodist News Service, similar to United
Methodist News Service.

"I have high hopes for our church in the Philippines. It is important
for communications and publications-print and Web-to inform people
there," Oconer said in his application. He lamented that "Methodist
publishing work in the country has been (in) a sorry state, and I hope
to take an active role in the rehabilitation of this effort in the
coming years."

More information on UMCom scholarships is available by contacting
Tucker-Shaw, at (888) 278-4862, or by visiting UMCom's Web site at
www.umcom.org.

*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in
Nashville, Tenn.

News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org