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Spiritual hunger permeates our world, providing
opportunities to share the good news of Jesus Christ and
to witness to God’s presence during these times of
economic, social, and political upheaval. Our church
needs trained leaders who can rise to this task and
equip others to participate in this work also.
In
recent years, the number of candidates for ministry has
seen little or no growth. The shortage of pastors—not
always apparent in this synod because of the strong
presence of Luther Seminary—presents a growing problem
for our church. At one time, most students entered
seminary shortly after completing undergraduate
education.
Today nearly 50 percent enter seminary after the age of
35. These candidates often support families and carry
other responsibilities while they pay for the cost of
seminary. Many carry a heavy burden of debt into their
first call. At Luther Seminary, 70 percent of the
students have borrowed to pay for their education, and
the average debt upon graduation is $38,000.
This scholarship fund will support candidates from the
Saint Paul Area Synod at any of the eight ELCA
seminaries during their senior year, paying up to the
full tuition cost for that year. The fund will operate
for at least seven years and serve a minimum of ten
candidates annually. |
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 NEWS:
The
Executive Committee of the Synod Council has
allocated up to
$60,000
to start helping
seminary students now.
(October 2007)
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Katie Keller,
Seminary Student |
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Why is it more important than ever to
support our future leaders?
Click here to find out.
(requires
Adobe Reader) |
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From The Rev. Patricia Lull, Dean of Students, Luther
Seminary:
"On the day of graduation last spring, the M. Div
graduates at Luther Seminary held a diploma in one hand
and an average educational debt of $45,000 in the other
hand. Not all of this reflects the cost of seminary
education, since many of last year’s graduates brought
debt from their undergraduate years.
I think some promising candidates never come to seminary
because of the financial cost and other graduates bear
this burden throughout the first 10-20 years of their
public ministry. A strong, gospel-sharing church needs
well educated, vibrant clergy. For me this is a communal
challenge, which is why I was honored when I was invited
to make a pledge to this campaign."
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