There have been many posts on this board asking for info on scholarships for seminary. The Fund for Theologigal Education is actively recruiting undergrad students who care considering going to seminary. They are providing mentors, conferences and stipends for students. That you do not pay back. In addtition they are recruiting and looking for African American students interested in pursuing a Ph.D and they are also providing fellowships. Their web site is www.thefund.org

Below is the info for undergrad fellowships. You will have to go to the web site to download an application. this info is from their site

A program providing support and guidance to undergraduate students who wish to consider ministry as a possible career and who embody the intellectual and spiritual qualities essential for Christian leadership as pastors, educators, and citizens.

Objectives

To give promising college students an introduction to ministry and the content of theological education before they make a firm vocational commitment.

To offer students guidance and special curricular opportunities as they consider future career choices.

To work in partnership with Fellows' undergraduate institutions in these and other supportive endeavors.

Eligibility

Applicants must be rising juniors or seniors in an accredited undergraduate program at a North American college or university.

Applicants should be considering ministry as a career.

Applicants must exhibit high academic performance, demonstrated by a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Applicants should possess exceptional gifts for ministry: love of God and church, imagination, creativity, compassion, a capacity for critical thinking, leadership skills, personal integrity, spiritual depth, dedication to a faith tradition, and an ability to understand and to serve the needs of others.

Applicants must be citizens of the U.S. or Canada. Undergraduate Fellows will attend the FTE Summer Conference on Excellence in Ministry, where gifted theological educators and ministers will serve as lecturers, mentors, and participants. In this consultation, Fellows will be aided in identifying their vocational commitments in the context of personal faith, theology, and the call of service to the world.

Undergraduate Fellows will be awarded a stipend of $1500 for the academic year, travel expenses for their participation in the summer conference, and $500 for a mentoring stipend.

As many as seventy Undergraduate Fellows will be named for the 2003-2004 academic year.

Application deadline: March 1

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-- Anonymous, December 16, 2002

Answers

Dearest Rev. Denise, Does this institution also cater for students outside the US borders, that are residing in Africa. I am asking this question because I have a number of interested young men and women who desires to pursue studies in theology, but at one of our own universities/colleges. Kindly enquire and give us feedback.

-- Anonymous, December 18, 2002

Merry Christmas Rev. Biwa and please give my Christmas greetings to Rev. Hanse and all my sisters and brothers in Namibia. Rev. Biwa I am sorry but listed under eligibility it says the student must be a U.S or Canadian student and attending a college or university in North America. But I will do some further searching and I will find out what I can for our A.M.E family in Africa for theological study. In case you or anyone else wonders why I like doing searches like this. I have a degree in social work and worked for many years as a social worker. And one of the primary tenets of social work is providing concrete services (providing what the client needs ie. food, housing etc. through referral. If we have young people that want to study theology then we need to help them.

-- Anonymous, December 18, 2002

Rev. Biwa and to our A.M.E family in Namibia and south africa. I found some scholarship info that may be helpful. I will keep looking. The first is from the Academy of Leadership Development and is funded by the Kellog Foundation.

W.K. Kellogg Foundation Regional Leadership Network for Southern Africa Study Grants Program Duration: 1998 - Location: Southern Africa Funding Source: W.K. Kellogg Foundation Contact: tkelly@aed.org Project Description: In cooperation with the W. K Kellogg Foundation in Southern Africa, AED manages a comprehensive program aimed at developing leadership in the region. This leadership initiative focuses on issues of equitable access to land and secure tenure rights, innovative approaches for rural economic enterprise, community and district- level health care delivery systems, and development of democratic institutions based on African value.

While its administration of graduate level study grants is the keystone of this program, AED's role also includes development of a leadership curriculum for the Regional Leadership Academy in South Africa, and management of the selection and distribution of leadership awards to distinguished individuals in the six countries of the region.

Also the School of Theology at the University of Natal Pietermaritzburg, South Africa has theology grants. They also have a masters program in African Christianity and are actively seeking women and economically disadvantaged students contact them by email: theo-sec@nu.ac.za

I will keep looking, tell the students do not give up. God will make a way.

-- Anonymous, December 18, 2002