KMF Announces Named Seminary Scholarship Funds

A key to the future of our church is strong, theologically-educated, pastoral leaders.

The Kansas Methodist Foundation is working to help fill the need though partnering with families, like yours, to create a named scholarship fund to support seminarians as they answer God’s call in their life.

“One of the most profound gifts I was given when following the calling God placed in my life to go to seminary, was the vital support of scholarships,” said Dustin Petz, President of KMF. “Strong leaders often lead to strong and vibrant congregations. With more pastors retiring, the church needs new strong leaders. At a time when the base cost for a Masters of Divinity program averages $50,000, scholarships help pave a path for seminarians to follow their call.”

Through a named scholarship fund, you can impact the life of a seminarian through creating a scholarship that will have a minimum impact of $1,000 per year. The fund can be in your name or in the name of someone you would like to honor, such as a pastor who has impacted your life.

Depending on your goals for the scholarship, either a term fund or an endowed fund can be created. An endowed fund will generate seminary scholarships in perpetuity and is created with an initial gift of at least $25,000, which may be contributed over a period of up to five years. The scholarship amount is designed to increase over time and keep pace with normal inflation. If you want to make an impact over a set number of years, a minimum gift of $5,000 will create a fund that is fully distributed over a period of five or more years.

If you are ready to create a named scholarship fund, or would like additional information, please contact Tyler Curtis, Chief Development Officer of KMF, at Tyler@KansasMethodistFoundation.org or 620-664-9623.

Kansas Methodist Foundation announces 2022-23 seminary scholarships

The Kansas Methodist Foundation is pleased to announce seminary scholarship applications are currently being accepted for the 2022-23 academic year.

The KMF Seminary Scholarship provides support for ministerial students who are from or serving in Kansas and working toward ordination in the Great Plains Conference.

The Pass the Torch Scholarship is a ministry of retired clergy of the Great Plains Conference as well as their spouses and surviving spouses who are committed to providing funds to educate quality seminary students to lead the church. The scholarship is open to seminary students from the Great Plains Conference.

For more information on these scholarships, visit www.kansasmethodistfoundation.org/scholarships. 

The deadline to apply is July 15, 2022.

The Kansas Methodist Foundation is grateful for the many individuals, families, and churches who have given to make these scholarships possible. If you are interested in helping raise up the next generation of church leaders by supporting one of these scholarships or creating a named scholarship to honor your ministry, a mentor, or a loved one, please contact Tyler Curtis at tyler@kansasmethodistfoundation.org or call 620-664-9623.

Pass the Torch Scholarship Impacts Next Generation of Clergy

With aspirations of serving every seminary student in the Great Plains Conference, the Pass the Torch committee stepped closer to their goal through the growth of the scholarship fund.

Since its founding, the Pass the Torch Scholarship has provided more than $100,000 to help seminary students answer their call. Through generous gifts and memorial funds, in 2021 alone the scholarship endowment fund grew by over $14,000.

“It’s an effort on the part of retired clergy and surviving spouses to address the needs of people wanting to answer God’s call to ministry in the church, but for whom the cost of that was prohibitive,” Pass the Torch Committee Chair Rev. Gary Beach
said.

Started in the 1990s by retired pastors and surviving spouses of the Kansas West Conference, the Pass the Torch Scholarship has since expanded to serve the Great Plains Conference and provide financial support to the next generation of clergy.

“When obeying God’s call and making plans to attend seminary, I had to have faith that God would provide,” scholarship recipient Brenda Hogan said. “The cost of seminary is daunting. While still ‘dreaming’ of going to seminary, I learned about the Pass the Torch scholarship from my pastor at the time, Mark Conard. I filed it away as future help with school expenses. It was an early step in believing in the possibility of this new chapter in life. I was blessed to receive scholarship funds that have been a great help to me in furthering my
education.”

For the students receiving the scholarship, it not only helps provide financially, but also provides encouragement in the seminary journey.

“While the Pass the Torch scholarship only covers a small percentage of the annual cost of seminary, the impact is far greater,” Victor Peterson, a scholarship recipient said. “It warms my heart to know that former pastors and spouses are willing to invest in the future of the church and specifically help fund young pastors, like me, in training. Most retiring pastors are not wealthy, and there are numerous causes I’m sure they feel called to help fund. So their generosity toward me and my call both affirms my call and makes me feel valued and appreciated. Being in seminary and ministry simultaneously can be challenging and exhausting at times, but their gifts encourage me to continue pushing through.”

Brenda and Victor are just two of many scholarship recipients impacted by the generosity of past and current retired clergy and spouses.

As seminary costs continue to rise, the committee is hopeful it will be able to provide a greater impact through increasing the number of scholarships awarded and the dollar amount.

“The cost of seminary is far in excess of what we retired clergy would ever have had to pay for a seminary experience,” Gary said. “The retired clergy want to continue to beef up what we are able to do.”

The Kansas Methodist Foundation is honored to partner with the Pass the Torch committee to support the next generation of clergy through investing the scholarship endowment funds and helping administer the
scholarship program. If you are interested in joining the retired clergy in their efforts, please contact the Kansas Methodist Foundation.