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A UMNS Report
By Aaron Cross*
3:00 P.M. ET March 23, 2012
Anyone who has gone to college knows that the costs can sometimes
create a bigger burden than the studying, lectures and exams. Worrying
about finances can take away from the joy and excitement of learning.
The costs can almost outweigh the benefits of the education. However,
one foundation in the Alabama-West Florida Annual (regional) Conference
has dedicated itself to those needing some help to serve God.
The Stegall Seminary Scholarship Endowment Foundation
was formed in 2007 to provide financial support to seminary students
from the Alabama-West Florida area. When the Rev. Karl Stegall was a
district superintendent, he saw firsthand so many heartbreaking
situations where seminary students, especially those with families,
could not afford the cost of a seminary education.
“Many struggled to pay their basic living expenses, much less their
tuition at seminary, “ Stegall said. “As a result, the majority of our
seminary students back then took out student loans to help them make
ends meet. Financial strain often leads to marital strains, and as a
result, many of our finest prospective ordained ministers that would
have made wonderful pastors decided to quit.”
However, one day Stegall was struck by the words of famed theologian Karl Barth:
“When the line of human needs crosses that line of your ability to
respond to that need, that is your cross, and that is what God has
called you to do!”
After reading that passage, Stegall vowed to dedicate the remaining
years of his life to providing financial assistance for seminary
students. When he was appointed senior pastor of First United Methodist
Church of Montgomery, Ala., in 1983, he began a “faith-promise”
scholarship program, inviting 35 families to become partners with 35
seminary students by providing seminary scholarships. This
continued until his retirement in 2007, when he founded the Stegall
Foundation.
Personal testimonies
Through various efforts, the foundation has raised more than $6
million for scholarships, with an additional $6 million promised in the
future, thanks to conference members including it in their wills.
Stegall cites a secret to the foundation’s success: “serving among
people who have a strong sense of biblical stewardship and clearly
understand our great need to support seminary students.”
Whenever possible, the foundation adds a personalized touch by
placing pictures and names of scholarship recipients in quarterly
brochures and on its website.
With all the students the foundation helps, those personal testimonies are plentiful.
Joe Driver, a recent Asbury Theological Seminary graduate currently
serving at Gulf Breeze (Fla.) United Methodist Church, said Stegall
“personally came to campus several times a year to meet with us and
encourage us that there were lots of people back home that cared for
us. I honestly would not have been able to go to seminary without the
support and prayers of the people who have so generously given to the
foundation.”
Angie Long, currently studying at Candler School of Theology, Emory
University, said, “The Stegall Scholarship Program has taught me what
it means to live in a community of faith and to answer God’s call. Most
(donors) have never met me or my family and yet continue to give of
themselves through their prayers and financial support.”
Gabe Holloway, another recipient at Asbury, was able to share some
of his heartbreaking and poignant story about how the foundation
supported him and his wife, Lynne, after the loss of their newborn
daughter, Annie.
“One of the things that I have stressed to donors is that they have
been an incredibly important part of Annie's life and our ministry to
people through her life and death. The foundation's support not only
met practical needs like medical bills, living expenses and seminary
tuition, but it (also) was a reminder that there was and is a larger
community … holding us in love and care.”
He expressed hope that “the blessing of the donors' giving was, is
and will be returned through my ministry, especially a ministry ...
informed by the incredible loss of my little girl.”
Universal gratitude
Gifts to and from the foundation are not only monetary. Stegall said
people have donated several cars for seminary students needing
transportation.
Recently, he personally delivered a used car to Ebb Hagan, a seminary student at Princeton Theological Seminary.
“When he was accepted, he sold all of his material possessions and
purchased an old, used van with nearly 200,000 miles on it and drove
his family of five over a thousand miles to Princeton, entering the
program last September,” Stegall said.
“A physician here in Montgomery, Sandy Benkwith, gave me a used car
to give to him and his family. When I arrived at Princeton last Friday
and gave Ed and Emily the car, I wish everyone could have seen the
great feeling of gratitude and emotion that he and his wife expressed
over that one simple gift.”
One universal statement from all who have benefited from the
scholarships is that they could not express their thanks enough for the
difference the foundation has made in their lives.
“One of my hopes and dreams might be that our humble efforts might
inspire some individual, or some church, or some board of ordained
ministry across United Methodism to join in similar efforts to help our
seminary students,” Stegall said.
*Cross is a freelance writer in Nashville, Tenn.
News Media contact: Joey Butler, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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