wfn.org | Dempster Awards Announced

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CONTACT: Linda Green				 (10-30-63-71B){125}
	    Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470	  March 3, 1998
Dempster Graduate Fellowships 
awarded to six students

	NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) -- Six doctoral candidates preparing for
careers in theological education have been awarded Dempster Graduate
Fellowships by the United Methodist Church for study during the 1998-99
academic year.
	The awards, ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 each, are given by
the church's Division of Ordained Ministry here.  
For 44 years, the fellowships have represented the church's strong
commitment to excellence in theological education, according to the Rev.
John E. Harnish, staff executive of the Division of Ordained Ministry.
The annual awards are named for John Dempster, a 19th- century Methodist
preacher who helped establish three United Methodist-related seminaries.

According to Harnish, the fellowships are among the most important
academic awards in the nation and represent "a significant commitment to
future United Methodist biblical and theological scholarship."
Selection for the Dempster award is based on intellectual competence,
academic achievement, promise of usefulness in teaching careers,
personal qualities, and clarity of spiritual purpose and commitment.
		The 1998-99 recipients are:
*	Wanda Jean Stahl, a native of Damariscotta, Maine, and a
graduate of the University of Maine and Boston University School of
Theology. She is an ordained deacon in the New England Conference and is
enrolled in Boston College, where she is specializing in religion and
education.
		*	Sunju Choi Chong, a native of Korea and graduate
of Chon Buk National University in Korea and Garrett-Evangelical
Theological Seminary. She is a certified candidate for ministry in the
Northern Illinois Conference. She is enrolled in Chicago Theological
Seminary, where she is specializing in pastoral theology and clinical
counseling.
		*	Jione Havea, a native of Tonga Island and a
graduate of Texas Wesleyan University and Perkins School of Theology. An
ordained elder in the Tongan Methodist Conference, he is enrolled in
Southern Methodist University and is specializing in biblical studies.
		*	Herbert Robinson Marbury, a native of Nashville,
Tenn., and a graduate of Emory University and Gammon Theological
Seminary. Marbury is an ordained elder in the North Georgia Conference.
He is enrolled in Vanderbilt University, where he is specializing in
Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)/social ethics.
		*	Elaine A. Robinson, a native of Pittsburgh and a
graduate of the University of Colorado, the Air Force Institute of
Technology and Perkins School of Theology. She is an ordained deacon in
the Rocky Mountain Conference and is enrolled in Emory University,
graduate division of religion, where she is specializing in theological
studies.
		*	Kimberly Anne Willis, a native of Newport Beach,
Calif., and a certified candidate for ordained ministry in the
California-Nevada Conference. She is a graduate of DeAnza College and
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and is currently enrolled at
Garrett specializing in worship and liturgical theology.
The Dempster Fellowships are money well invested, Harnish said. "We are
literally touching the future of the church as we enable persons to
prepare to teach in our theological schools.
"Since the Dempster Fellowships are funded through the Ministerial
Education Fund, every local church is investing in these scholarships by
their support of the MEF apportionment."
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