Scholarship money declines for United Methodist students
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A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose A student sits near a window in the library at Candler School of Theology in Atlanta.
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A
student sits near a window in the library at United Methodist-related
Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta. A UMNS photo
by Mike DuBose. Photo #05-368. Accompanies UMNS story #300. 5/16/05 |
May 16, 2005By Linda Green* NASHVILLE,
Tenn. (UMNS)—The decline in congregations giving to special Sunday
offerings is wreaking havoc on the number of scholarships the United
Methodist Church’s higher education agency can give to eligible
applicants. Last year, the Office of Loans and Scholarships had to turn away 300 eligible applicants. "We
continually have more eligible applicants than we have dollars
available," said Angella Current-Felder, executive director of the
office, a unit of the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and
Ministry. Current-Felder
told United Methodist News Service that there is a decline in giving to
the three special Sunday offerings that enable scholarships to United
Methodist students—World Communion Sunday, which provides scholarships
for ethnic minority students, United Methodist Student Day, which
enables undergraduates to attend United Methodist-related schools, and
Native American Ministries Sunday, which provides scholarships for
Native Americans pursing master of divinity degrees. Each
United Methodist-related college receives allocations from the United
Methodist Student Day offering, and each annual (regional) conference
receives 10 percent of its Student Day receipts to award to merit
scholars, she said. The
board administers 60 scholarship programs that provided nearly $4.8
million in awards to 3,540 students last year. The agency provided
another $1.2 million in loans to 500 students. Giving to the three special Sundays has dropped or remained flat while the number of scholarship applications has increased.
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A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose Chebon
Kernell serves Pawnee (Okla.) Indian United Methodist Church while
attending Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Okla.
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Chebon
Kernell serves Pawnee (Okla.) Indian United Methodist Church while
attending Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Okla. He serves as
director of interpretation and programs for the Oklahoma Indian
Missionary Conference and is featured on posters and church offering
envelopes supporting Native American Ministries Sunday. A UMNS photo by
Mike DuBose. Photo number 05-369, Accompanies UMNS #300, 5/16/05 |
Last year,
collections decreased 6.9 percent for World Communion Sunday and 4.4
percent for Native American Ministries Sunday, while barely increasing
0.7 percent for United Methodist Student Day, according to the
denomination’s General Council on Finance and Administration. Student
Day dollars all go to scholarships, but the offerings for the other two
Sundays support ministries in addition to scholarships."The
decline of the congregational giving for the offerings has a negative
impact on the amount of available funds for scholarships for students,"
Current-Felder said. Against
that backdrop, Current-Felder’s office has received 50 more
applications this year than what was received in May 2004. To date, the
office has received 2,108 applications for the 2005-06 academic year, up
from 2,053 a year earlier. The average scholarship awarded ranges from $800 to $1,000, she said. Portions
of the Student Day offering are returned to United Methodist-related
schools to award scholarships themselves, but the lack of money has
prevented an increase in allocations to the schools.
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A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose Caitlin McMahon is majoring in art and communications at United Methodist-related Albright College in Reading, Pa.
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Caitlin
McMahon is majoring in art and communications at United
Methodist-related Albright College in Reading, Pa. McMahon is a Gift of
Hope Scholar and is featured on posters and church offering envelopes
supporting United Methodist Student Day. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. Photo number 05-370, Accompanies UMNS #300, 5/16/05 |
The denomination’s
Gift of Hope Scholarship Fund is decreasing because no new money from
the United Methodist Student Day offering is being fed into the program
to support it. "Continuing this program is going to be difficult in
another couple of years," Current-Felder said.While
some United Methodist churches have their own scholarship funds for
students in their congregations, she said, the amounts do not cover the
educational costs for those students because they still need additional
money. In
addition to the drop in special Sundays giving, another factor has
contributed to scholarship denials: restrictions on earnings from wills
and annuities, which represent 70 percent of scholarship money awarded
from the board or money awarded through the United Methodist Foundation
for Higher Education. The amount provided from wills and annuities—money
bequeathed to the United Methodist of Higher Education or to the
foundation—amounts to nearly $4 million that is invested by the board.
The earnings from those wills and annuities provide the scholarships. In
a mailing to the denomination’s bishops, Current-Felder stated that at
the end of July 2004, about $3.7 million in scholarship funds had been
awarded to more than 2,700 students. The letter stated that the number
of students would increase to 3,500 after her office received
nominations from the United Methodist schools, colleges and
universities. "Nevertheless,
in spite of the number we were able to award, there were still more
than 300 eligible United Methodist students for which we did not have
any scholarship dollars," she said. The
Native American Ministries offering provides money for Native American
students to attend graduate school and pursue ministry. Such a student
who wants to attend an undergraduate school might not be able to receive
funding from World Communion dollars. "So that student may not be able
get to graduate school to pursue ministry," she said. "It
is not an ethnic issue, but is a United Methodist student issue,"
Current-Felder said. "How are we investing in the leadership of our
church for the present and the future?" While
statistics show the denomination is "graying," it is also filled with
young people who are active in their local congregations, and for whom
$1,000 could make a difference in whether they go to college or not. "How
can we get graying congregations to have a vested interest in the
future," particularly in the future of their grandchildren?
Current-Felder asked. *Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn. News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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