KU graduate receives $2,000 toward ministry education

LAWRENCE -- A University of Kansas graduate received $2,000 from the Fund for Theological Education to support his education toward a career in ministry.

Nathan Thompson Soule, a senior in international studies and Spanish, was one of 70 undergraduate students from across the country to receive an award during the fall 2003 semester to be used for educational expenses or a special project to explore ministry. Soule received a $1,500 fellowship for educational expenses and $500 for a mentorship program with Thad Holcombe, Ecumenical Christian Ministries campus minister, and Emilie Whitehurst, associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Lawrence.

According to the fund's Web site, the program is designed to give promising college students an introduction to ministry and the content of theological education before they make a firm vocational commitment. The program also offers students guidance and special curricular opportunities as they consider future career choices.

Soule is considering a career in ministry within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), either as an ordained pastor or as a seminary professor. He is the son of Tim and Deborah Soule of Hutchinson, and he is a Red Bluff Union High School graduate, Red Bluff, Calif. He graduated from KU in December and plans to enter seminary in fall 2004.

Applicants must be juniors or seniors in an accredited undergraduate program at a North American college or university, considering a career in ministry, have a 3.0 or higher grade-point average and possess exceptional gifts for ministry, including love of God and church, imagination, creativity, compassion, a capacity for critical thinking, leadership skills, personal integrity, spiritual depth, dedication to a faith tradition, and an ability to understand and to serve the needs of others.

All 2003 Undergraduate Fellows attended the 2003 Summer Conference on Excellence in Ministry, "The Art of Ministry," June 19 through 22 at Emory University's Candler School of Theology in Atlanta. There they explored issues of vocation, theology, and ministry by participating in a variety of worship experiences, roundtable discussions with practicing clergy and seminars with theological educators.

The Fund for Theological Education was established in 1954 by a group of seminary educators, clergy and interested laypeople as a response to the perceived crisis in Protestant theological education. It has awarded approximately 5,000 fellowships since its inception.