United Methodist Scholarship of 50 Years Providing Leadership to the Church
Scholarships particularly designed for the development of leadership in the United Methodist Church (UMC) have been presented to 10 honorable recipients for the academic year 2005-06 on Feb. 25.
Funded by the Ministerial Education Fund through the Division of Ministry of UMC, the Dempster Graduate Fellowships are the largest graduate scholarships given by a Protestant denomination, according to the denomination's Board of Higher Education and Ministry. The awards range up to $10,000 for an individual student.
"It's a very significant program for the leadership of the United Methodist Church. Many of our lead scholars in our theological schools and universities have been Dempster scholars in the past and they are the ones who have provided intellectual capital for the development of our scholars and pastors in the UMC," said the Rev. Robert Kohler, the Assistant General Secretary of the Division of Ministry.
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"We consider it a very good investment in intellectual leadership of the United Methodism," he added.
Having the purpose to "increase the effectiveness of teaching in United Methodist schools of theology", the awards are offered to both graduate and future graduate students who apply for the scholarship with commitment to serve the church through theological education.
For the past five decades, the annual fellowships have aided graduate students in their advancement toward careers in seminaries and universities of UMC. According to the Rev. Robert Kohler, the fellowships represent the United Methodist Church's commitment to theological education both in the United States and around the world.
Among the 25-35 who apply each year, the Committee on Awards makes the selection based upon the students' "intellectual competence, academic achievement, promise of usefulness in teaching careers, personal qualities, clarity of spiritual purpose, and commitment to Christian ministry and the preparation of pastoral leadership for the church," according to the official Dempster website.
Unlike the previous years, the number of recipients has increased from five to ten this year to begin offering the fellowships to students earlier in their graduate work, said Kohler. Originally designed for the dissertation year, the scholars are identified earlier to be supported throughout their education, not just when writing of their thesis.
Many of the scholarship recipients have developed to become lead scholars within the United Methodist denomination, providing leadership for the church.
Kohler expressed the church's hope in these scholarships to raise the denomination's own leaders to provide training and leadership to the members of the church.
"We're living at a time where we need to be very intentional about the selection in support of our scholars because it has been more difficult to find that kind of scholars to lead within our denomination," commented Kohler.
"Instead of getting leadership from outside the church to train leaders within the church, we would like as much as possible for those who are interested in scholarship to be able to provide leadership for the development of the Methodist in the future."
The fellowship is named for the Rev. John Dempster, a pioneer in United Methodist theological education. Converted at a Methodist camp meeting in 1812, he preached in New York, served as a missionary in Argentina, and founded Boston University School of Theology and Garrett Biblical Institute (Garrett-Evangelical Seminary) in Evanston, Illinois.
For more information or to apply for Dempster Graduate Fellowships, visit http://www.gbhem.org
