wfn.org | Liberation theology professor receives graduate scholarship

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

June 21, 2000 News media contact: Linda Green·(615) 742-5470·Nashville,
Tenn.  10-31-71B{289}

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - Sherryl Leigh Wright, a liberation theology and
cultural diversity teacher, is the 14th recipient of a graduate award given
annually to a woman pursuing a leadership role at a United Methodist-related
college or university.

Wright, an adjunct faculty member at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas
City, Mo., and the University of Denver, will receive the $5,000 Esther E.
Edwards Graduate Scholarship for the 2000-2001 academic year. She is
studying religion and social change in a joint doctoral program at Iliff
School of Theology and the University of Denver.

A former newspaper editor in China, Wright also spent time in India as part
of the Kansas East Conference Global Mission Experience.

"I am meant to serve in Christ's name," she said. "I have acknowledged that
calling publicly in consecration as a diaconal minister. When I began my
studies toward the diaconal ministry after my return from India, I knew my
decision for servant ministry to be a lifelong decision."

As a liberation theology teacher, Wright tries to help people understand how
the Gospel has the power to free those who are victims of a worldwide system
of oppression.

She will be presented the scholarship on June 25 during the annual Institute
of Higher Education. The June 25-27 event, to be held in Nashville, is
sponsored by the Division of Higher Education of the United Methodist Board
of Higher Education and Ministry.  

The Esther E. Edwards scholarship honors the retired director of the board's
Office of Loans and Scholarships.
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United Methodist News Service
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