wfn.org | Fund to Provide Financial Support for Lutheran Seminary Students

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 3, 2000

FUND TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR LUTHERAN SEMINARY STUDENTS
00-123-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
recently created a special fund to provide financial support for
leadership development in the church.  The initial goal of the "Fund for
Leaders in Mission" is to raise a $200 million endowment to support
tuition costs for the preparation of ordained and lay leaders, said
Cynthia Halverson, fund director, Chicago.
     The Fund for Leaders in Mission is a churchwide program maintained
in the ELCA Foundation.
     This fall the fund will provide three-year tuition scholarships to
one student attending each of the eight ELCA seminaries, she said.
Seminaries are nominating candidates for scholarship consideration, said
the Rev. Donald M. Hallberg, executive director of the ELCA Foundation,
Chicago, in remarks to the April 8-9 meeting of the ELCA Church Council.
     The fund was created to insure men and women who accept the call
to ELCA ministry can complete their educations with low debt loads,
Halverson said.  When fully endowed, the fund will provide full tuition
support to every student who has made a commitment to ordained or
professional lay ministry -- associates in ministry, deaconesses and
diaconal ministers -- within the ELCA, she said.
     As more people learn about it, financial gifts to the fund have
increased, said Hallberg.  Through the fund the church is saying
theological education is "key, important and vital" for the future of
the church, he said.
     Throughout the church, the ELCA continues to need trained leaders,
Halverson said.  Yet, over the past few years there has been little
growth in the number of candidates for ministry, she said.
     The cost of seminary education and the debt it creates is a
barrier for many students considering a call to ministry, Halverson
said.  The average debt for students who borrow money to attend a
seminary is $25,000, she said.  The average salary package for pastors
called to ministry after seminary is $33,000; the average for "mid-
career" pastors is $43,000.  The compensation package usually includes
salary and allocations for housing, Halverson said.
     Supporting students while they attend seminary classes creates
"the opportunity to serve more freely," said the Rev. Sarah J. Stumme,
Trevorton, Pa.  Stumme and her husband, the Rev. John C. Berg, are
recent seminary graduates from the Lutheran School of Theology at
Chicago.  They serve three congregations: Zion Lutheran Church,
Trevorton; St. Peter Lutheran Church, West Cameron, Pa.; and St. John
Lutheran Church, Leck Kill, Pa.  Stumme is also a member of the ELCA
Church Council.
     Many smaller congregations don't have the financial resources to
pay more experienced pastors and are often served by those in their
first call after seminary, Stumme said.  These pastors often begin their
work burdened with debts they incurred in seminary, she said.
     "We want to be faithful to God's call, particularly in regard to
smaller or struggling congregations," Stumme said, "but always in the
back of our minds is the awareness of the heavy load of debt we must
repay."
     In addition, the fund aims to help leaders in their 20s and 30s
who are spiritual and service-minded but discouraged from pursuing
pastoral ministry because of the costs of seminary education and the
debt they may carry, she said.
     "If we don't find ways to support people considering seminary, we
risk losing a generation of pastors" who simply cannot assume the debt,
Stumme said.  "We are a service-minded generation, but we have to feel
that we can meet our financial obligations and responsibilities while
following God's call."
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     More information about the Fund for Leaders in Mission is
available by contacting Cynthia Halverson at (800) 638-3522, ext. 2119,
by e-mail at chalvers@elca.org, or by writing the ELCA Foundation, 8765
W. Higgins Rd., Chicago, IL 60631.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html