KU News Release

KU senior receives 2008 Fund for Theological Education fellowship

LAWRENCE — Jenny Faber, a University of Kansas senior from Hays, has received a 2008 Undergraduate Fellowship from the Fund for Theological Education of Atlanta, Ga.

Faber was one of three students selected from public universities for the 50 fellowships awarded. The program identifies students who demonstrate skills needed for ministry and are considering graduate programs for full-time positions with a church.

Faber is majoring in religious studies and Germanic languages and literatures. She is the daughter of Paul and Jacinta Faber of Hays and is a graduate of Hays High School.

The 2008 fellows, including Faber, attended the Fund for Theological Education’s Conference on Excellence in Ministry held June 11-15 at the Emory University’s Candler School of Theology in Atlanta.

More than 300 students were nominated for the $2,000 fellowships. The nominees represented 26 denominations and 96 undergraduate institutions. Fellows are chosen for their imagination, creativity, compassion, capacity for critical thinking, leadership skills, personal integrity, spiritual depth, dedication to a faith tradition and passion to serve the needs of others.

At KU, Faber is on the board of the Ecumenical Christian Ministries, a cooperative ministry of the Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ, Religious Society of Friends and the Church of the Brethren. She has also served as co-coordinator of the Faith Forum: A Liberating Take on Christianity and Human Sexuality Committee. In addition, she has participated in Alternative Spring Breaks and other ECM programs. She is a member of the Episcopal Church.

The Rev. Thad Holcombe, campus minister for ECM, nominated Faber.

“Jenny raises the difficult faith questions of a woman living in a culture increasingly in transition,” said Holcombe. “She has brought to ECM an intellectual curiosity combined with an ability to connect her ‘head with her heart.’ ”

Faber also has been a recipient of the Zelma McIlvain Scholarship as an outstanding student in religious studies and a Harley S. Nelson Scholarship for honors students from the Germanic languages and literatures department.

The Fund for Theological Education is an ecumenical nonprofit that supports the next generation of leaders among pastors and scholars. It provides more than $1.5 million annually in fellowships and supports gifted young people from all denominations and racial/ethnic backgrounds.

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