| Members receive
scholarships, loans
By Michael Wacht
ORLANDO — College, university and seminary
students from Florida Conference churches received more than $164,000
in loans and scholarships for the 2001-2002 school year, according to
the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. A total of 137
students received financial aid from the denomination.
Jana Hart, the conference’s director of Higher
Education and Campus Ministry, said that figure is down from recent
years, when as many as 160 Florida students received financial aid.
Hart believes the decline is due, in part, to pastors and youth
ministers not knowing about the availability of aid packages.
The financial aid packages available through the
denomination vary widely by their requirements, according to Hart.
Some packages require attendance at a United Methodist-related school,
while others are based on ethnicity. Some require nothing more than
“that a student has been a United Methodist for one year,” she
said.
Florida students are receiving aid from 14
different scholarship programs and are attending schools including
Brevard Community College, Princeton University, Florida State
University, the University of Florida, Florida A & M University,
Florida Southern College, Bethune-Cookman College, Asbury College and
the Moody Bible Institute.
Funding for the scholarships and loans comes, in
part, from United Methodist churches through the Student Day offering,
which is traditionally collected the Sunday following Thanksgiving.
Last year, Florida Conference churches gave $12,921 to the offering,
and students received $195,563 in aid. The Florida Conference keeps 10
percent of the annual offering to help fund higher education and
campus ministries.
“We’re getting far more than we’re putting
in,” Hart said, adding she hopes to see the conference double its
commitment to students. “I’d like to see Florida top it out.”
The Virginia Conference gave the most in 2000
with a little more than $25,000.
One way Hart helps increase the commitment to
the Student Day offering is by encouraging churches to hold a Student
Worship Celebration on a Sunday when they have more students present.
“Many churches wait until the Christmas holidays when more students
are home,” she said. “It’s not important when they celebrate it.
It’s important that they celebrate it.”
Churches should also encourage students to
participate in or lead the worship service through Scripture reading,
singing, ushering and preaching. “One key is for them [churches] to
be aware that this is a time to help young adults feel connected to
the United Methodist Church,” she said.
Hart recently sent information on the Student
Day and the denomination’s loan and scholarship programs to all
churches. She said she hopes pastors and youth ministers will take the
time to share it with high school students who are preparing for
college. |
