The Kansas Methodist Foundation is pleased to announce the creation of a new seminary scholarship fund, the Rev. Gary and Betty Beach Seminary Scholarship.
A family approached the KMF about naming a scholarship to honor the longtime United Methodist pastor and past Treasurer of the Great Plains Conference of the United Methodist Church and his wife. Now funded, this scholarship will provide resources for seminarians who will be selected by the Pass the Torch scholarship committee.
Born in Paola, Kansas, Gary went to Wichita State University after high school, where he graduated with a degree in business and financial administration. While in college, he worked for the National Shirt Shop chain in Wichita, where he was promoted to assistant manager, studying during the time he didn’t have customers.
An offer came to make Beach a manager at the store, but he turned it down – he felt a calling to enter seminary.
After graduation from St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, he served churches in Pittsburg, St. Mary’s-Emmett-Belvue, Council Grove and Ottawa, all in Kansas. He became the Emporia-Manhattan district superintendent from 1995 to 2001 and was director of connectional ministries for the former Kansas East Conference from 2001 to 2010.
A vacancy in the treasurer/director of administrative services office of the conference led to his appointment in 2010. The Kansas West conference was added to his duties in 2011. He was then appointed to the same position in the Great Plains Conference as it was formed in 2014. He has 43 years in the ministry.
Beach and his wife, Betty, a retired educator, are longtime residents of Manhattan. He enjoys gardening and reading while he and Betty both love to travel and explore genealogy. Their daughter and son-in-law live in Wichita, and their son lives with them in Manhattan.
If you are interested in adding resources to this scholarship, then you can send checks to the Kansas Methodist Foundation, 100E. 1st Ave., Hutchinson, KS 67504 or give online here (note: scroll down to OTHER and insert “Rev. Gary and Betty Beach Seminary Scholarship”). If you have questions about other ways to give to this scholarship or related to other funding opportunities, please contact Tyler Curtis, Chief Development Officer, at tyler@kansasmethodistfoundation.org.
