The Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies recognized three outstanding students at the annual meeting of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society. Allison Rosser, sophomore at the University of Richmond, and Melissa McReynolds and Mattie Patterson, sophomores at the College of William and Mary, became the fourth class of Heritage Fellows of the Center.
The Heritage Fellows will be given learning opportunities in Baptist history and heritage and will participate in a special project on music and worship in local churches throughout Virginia. Each student is awarded a stipend of $3,000.
The Heritage Fellows program was initiated by the Center to identify and equip emerging leaders among Baptist students in Virginia's colleges and universities. The goal is to enable the students to have a better understanding and appreciation of Baptist heritage, especially time-honored Baptist principles and distinctives, and of the relationship between Baptist heritage and the contemporary scene in Baptist life.
The Heritage Fellows program is one activity among several sponsored by the Center, which was established in 2000 to champion Baptist principles through education. The Center also sponsors public programs, convocations and workshops and publishes resources for individual and church study as well as a new essay contest for high school juniors and seniors.
The Center recognized Elizabeth Brooke Gwathmey of West Point High School and a member of Bruington Baptist Church during the annual meeting program as the recipient of the first Roots & Wings Young Scholars Essay Contest. The essay question was on Remembering and Imagining Missions Delivery. The first place award for the essay contest is $500.
Elizabeth's essay was published along with the papers of the 2005-06 Heritage Fellows in a new resource, It's All About Missions!, which is available for $5 from the center. A copy of this resource was presented at the annual meeting to Diana Howell, a 2005-06 Heritage Fellow, who wrote about missions delivery to Hispanic and Muslim communities in Virginia.
For more information on the Heritage Fellows program or the essay contest, please contact the Center at P.O. Box 34, University of Richmond, VA 23713 or call (804) 289-8434.