Right now men and women across this church are heading off to seminary, answering God’s call to ministry and preparing to become future pastors and rostered lay leaders in this church.

But, some leaders are unable to answer God’s call to a life of ministry because of the significant obstacle of seminary debt. In fact, many take out large amounts of student loans to finance their seminary education. In 2006 the average amount of student debt for 70 percent of ELCA seminary graduates was $38,000. Such a large amount of debt can prohibit a future leader from serving this church where they are needed most--often in smaller congregations.

With your help we want to increase the amount of support we can offer in order to lessen the amount of seminary debt carried by our future pastors and rostered lay leaders. The long-term goal of the ELCA Fund for Leaders is to be able to provide seminary tuition support to everyone who is called to leadership within the ELCA. Since 2000, the ELCA Fund for Leaders has provided almost $3 million in scholarship support for those future leaders attending seminary. Your gift to the ELCA Fund for Leaders will help make this goal possible.

Together, we can continue this church’s legacy of faithful, wise, and courageous leaders. Give your gift to the ELCA Fund for Leaders today.

	Matt Kruse is a 2007 recipient of an ELCA Fund for Leaders seminary scholarship. He is a student at Trinity Theological Seminary. This school year he will be starting his second year of classes at Trinity. “Being an ELCA Fund for Leaders scholar has afforded me the opportunity to consider serving in places and in ways I might not have been able to otherwise. With the financial support I have received I can enter my first call more concerned with the ministry I am called to do rather than the salary I need to earn to survive financially.”
	Sumie Song is the 2006 recipient of The J. Binnie and Sara Kramer Wolfe Seminary Scholarship. She is a student at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. This school year she will be interning at St. John Lutheran Church, Somonauk, Illinois. The scholarship she received from the ELCA Fund for Leaders means that she is able to concentrate fully on her studies and not worry about financing her education. This has given her opportunities to take courses she otherwise would not have been able to take; enhancing her future ministry. In her ministry she hopes to be able to help connect the arts to the worship and faith life of a congregation.
	Taryn Montgomery is the 2007 recipient of The Mildred Flotow Memorial Seminary Scholarship. She is a student at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. This school year she will be starting her second year of classes at Philadelphia. During her first year of seminary she discovered that one of her real gifts is pastoral care. After seminary she envisions serving in a rural setting where she can combine her gifts for parish ministry and pastoral care. “The Fund for Leaders scholarship I received has affected not only where I will be able to serve, but how I will be able to serve. This scholarship has opened doors for me to minister in various settings.”
	Seth Novak is a 2006 recipient of an ELCA Fund for Leaders seminary scholarship. He is a student at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. This school year he will be interning at Trinity Lutheran church, Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Seth grew up in Montana in a smaller congregation. After seminary he hopes to go back and serve those smaller congregations. “I hope to be able to serve without regard to salary thanks to the decreased debt load this scholarship has given me. Because of this scholarship I will be able to focus more on my ministry instead of struggling to make ends meet.”