Meet the winners of the Synod’s Higher Education Scholarships for Christian Leaders

Several of the 2021 winners of the Higher Education Scholarship for Christian Leaders submitted short videos in gratitude for the support they received.  Watch them at 2021 Higher Education Scholarships for Christian Leaders – YouTube.  The 56 Recipients received between $375 and $1000 each for vocational, associates, or undergraduate programs or first masters programs in Theology.  Applicants were asked to describe how they work toward the Matthew 25 goals of strengthening congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism, and eradicating systemic poverty. See the whole list of winners and learn more below.

The Synod of the Covenant is delighted to announce that it has awarded almost $40,000 in scholarships to 56 students from 10 presbyteries and 29 churches.  These awards, ranging from $500 to $1,000, go to the winners of the Higher Education Scholarships for Christian Leaders.

These scholarships include 45 bachelor’s degrees, 4 associate degrees, and 7 theology scholarships. Of the 56 scholarships, 27 were given to people self-identified as Black, Korean, Asian, and African.

This year, in addition to articulating their career goals, applicants also reflected on how they work toward building congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism, and/or eradicating systemic poverty.  These areas of ministry characterize the Matthew 25 movement within the Presbyterian Church (USA), of which the Synod of the Covenant is a part.

These scholarships are funded in part by per capita payments from the almost 700 Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations and more than 100,000 members, mostly in the states of Ohio and Michigan, throughout the Synod of the Covenant.

The Grants Committee includes Lisa Allgood (Cincinnati Presbytery), Betty Angelini, chair (Eastminster Presbytery), Amy Duiker (Miami Valley Presbytery), Jackie Humphries (Detroit Presbytery), Skip Jackson (Scioto Valley Presbytery), Fran Lane-Lawrence (Lake Michigan Presbytery), Georgia McCall (Lake Huron Presbytery), and Brady Radford (Administrative Commission, Synod of the Covenant.

This team will also administer and award the Matthew 25 Grants for churches and ministries; the application for these awards will be available on www.synodofthecovenant.org by August 1, 2021, and applications will be due by September 30, 2021.

Let us focus together on the words of Colossians 1:9-10 as we thank God and pray for our scholarship winners:

Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven’t stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works.

2021-22 Higher Education Scholarship for Christian Leaders Winners

Cincinnati Presbytery
Bond Hill Presbyterian Church
Kathryn Bronsink

Detroit Presbytery
Calvary Presbyterian Church of Detroit
Chase Reynolds
Mason Martin
Sakinah Wilson

Westminster Presbyterian Church of Detroit
Billa Ndeh Zama
Andrew Palmer

University Presbyterian Church
Hannah Jacobs

Starr Presbyterian Church
Lon Kuehn

St. Thomas Presbyterian Church
Paige Coleman

The Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church
Grace Phillips

First Presbyterian Church of Royal Oak
Norman Dell

Lake Huron Presbytery
First Presbyterian Church of Alma
Adam Dixon
Daniel Dixon

First Presbyterian Church of Fenton
Heidi Ritchie

First Presbyterian Church Mt. Pleasant
Anna Clare Miller

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church
Lily Brown

Lake Michigan Presbytery
Brooklyn Presbyterian Church
Logan Recob
Richard Recob

First Presbyterian Church Grand Haven
Annika Houser-Brydon

First Presbyterian Church of Holt
Emerson Miller

Westminster Presbyterian Church Grand Rapids
Emily Anderson

Mackinac Presbytery
First Presbyterian Church Escanaba
Madison Ide
Brooke Landis
Daren Landis

Maumee Valley Presbytery
First Presbyterian Church of Maumee
Isaac Tolbert
Taylor Snyder

First Presbyterian Church Tiffin
Kaia Treadway

Hanmi Covenant Presbyterian Church
Hae In An
Doyun Kim
Isaac Kim
Daniel Lee
Junguen Lee
Yullie Yun

Miami Valley Presbytery
College Hill Presbyterian Church
Aniya Drake

First United Church Bellefontaine
Caroline Eader

Southminster Presbyterian Church
Joshua Sweeney

Sugar Creek Presbyterian Church
Abigail Schultz

Fairmont Presbyterian Church
Rachel Boden

Muskingum Valley Presbytery
First Presbyterian Church Marietta
Justin Warner

Scioto Valley Presbytery
Ramseyer Presbyterian Church
Shanelle Abbiw
Nana Adwoa Brefo
Fredricka Agyekum
Bernice Agyepong
Daizy Asante
Isaiah Boateng
Ben Danso
Akosua Ofosuhene
Emmanuel Amoako Okyere
Priscilla Oppong
Wendy Oppong-Amoh
Ronald Yeboah
Ruth Yeboah

Akua B. Agyen

Second Presbyterian Church Newark
Amanda Waser

Worthington Presbyterian Church
Peter Okyere

Presbytery of the Western Reserve
John Knox Presbyterian Church
Colin MacMillan