ATLANTA (ABP) — Eighty students at 11 Cooperative Baptist Fellowship partner schools have received scholarships for the 2006-2007 academic year.
The scholarships are designed for students with CBF ties going to seminaries or divinity schools that train future church leaders. Each student is awarded $5,000 a year — $2,000 for tuition assistance per semester and $1,000 to attend the CBF General Assembly.
“CBF decided from the very beginning that one of the crucial elements of this movement is to train leaders who know what it means to be Baptist and understand what it means to lead a congregation,” said Terry Hamrick, CBF's coordinator for leadership development.
Each partner school administers applications and decides who will receive scholarships. Hamrick said the Fellowship looks for successful students who have a sense of calling to congregational ministry. The applicant must also have some connection with the Fellowship, which may include membership at a partner church or participation with the Fellowship directly or through a partner organization.
Allocating a portion of the scholarship for students to attend CBF's annual meeting gives students the opportunity to become more familiar with the Fellowship during their theological education. “Scholarships are designed to provide funds for the students but also to help integrate students into the life of CBF,” Hamrick said.
Aside from providing scholarships at partner schools, CBF also has participated in founding the Shiloh Network, a community of churches and church leaders who provide support for future ministers.
George Mason, pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, led a workshop about the Shiloh Network at the 2006 General Assembly. He introduced statistics stating that only 28 percent of people who enter seminary seek to work for churches after seminary. Mason said that within the next 10 years, two-thirds of Baptist ministers will be retiring and the need for more ministers entering congregational ministry is important.
“Discovering and developing leaders for congregations is at the heart of CBF's mission,” Hamrick said. “Our focus is congregations. The future of these congregations and their mission will be influenced greatly by their ministers. We are investing in these students today as one way to ensure effective leaders for tomorrow.”
The institutions where students will be receiving CBF scholarships this year and the number of scholarships awarded at each institution are:
— Baptist Seminary of Kentucky, Lexington: 3
— Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, Va.: 9
— Baptist University of the Americas, San Antonio: 1
— Campbell University Divinity School, Buies Creek, N.C.: 9
— Candler School of Theology at Emory University, Atlanta: 4
— Central Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Kan.: 3
— Duke University Divinity School, Durham, N.C.: 5
— M. Christopher White School of Divinity at Gardner-Webb
University, Boiling Springs, N.C.: 9
— Logsdon School of Theology at Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene, Texas: 4
— McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University, Atlanta: 9
— George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University, Waco, Texas: 10
— Wake Forest Divinity School, Winston-Salem, N.C.: 5
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