Our 42 seminary students today are attending five different institutions----Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky; Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia; Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina; Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia; and Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. It is
estimated that it costs over $40,000 annually for a full-time student to attend one of these seminaries.
You would be interested to know that 18 of our seminary students are single, and 24 are married. Among these 24 married
[caption id="attachment_1421" align="alignright" width="225"]
The Baird Family, one of our many seminary student families.[/caption]
families, there are 32 children. Th e expenses of seminary can put a great hardship on all seminary students, especially those with children. It is very, very difficult for a married student to pay for full tuition, housing, meals, transportation, and meals, while, also, trying to provide for the basic necessities of his/her children in regards to food, clothing, school supplies, insurance, and medical expenses.
A mother of three, and wife of one of our seminary students, shared at our most recent banquet her moving story concerning the financial pressures that she, along with her husband and children, faced during his third and final year of seminary. The financial strain within the family had grown so difficult that her husband developed a habit of walking down to the mailbox each day the first week of the month to meet the mail carrier, hoping and praying that the check from our Foundation was in the mail. The lack of financial resources within their family of five had become so evident over the course of three years that even the sensitive children picked up the habit of following their father down to the mailbox the first of the month in great anticipation that the check had arrived.
There will be other families of seminary students that will come to the close of this year facing similar financial struggles. Amid the significant pressures that the lack of finances can put on the families of our seminary students, let us not forget that there might be other children this December walking down to the mailbox with their father or mother to meet the mail carrier in anticipation of a gift to ease their strain.
Remember, your year-end gift will not only make a huge difference in the life of a seminary student, but it can also make a great difference in the life of a child!
-Karl K. Stegall
The Baird Family, one of our many seminary student families.[/caption]
families, there are 32 children. Th e expenses of seminary can put a great hardship on all seminary students, especially those with children. It is very, very difficult for a married student to pay for full tuition, housing, meals, transportation, and meals, while, also, trying to provide for the basic necessities of his/her children in regards to food, clothing, school supplies, insurance, and medical expenses.
A mother of three, and wife of one of our seminary students, shared at our most recent banquet her moving story concerning the financial pressures that she, along with her husband and children, faced during his third and final year of seminary. The financial strain within the family had grown so difficult that her husband developed a habit of walking down to the mailbox each day the first week of the month to meet the mail carrier, hoping and praying that the check from our Foundation was in the mail. The lack of financial resources within their family of five had become so evident over the course of three years that even the sensitive children picked up the habit of following their father down to the mailbox the first of the month in great anticipation that the check had arrived.
There will be other families of seminary students that will come to the close of this year facing similar financial struggles. Amid the significant pressures that the lack of finances can put on the families of our seminary students, let us not forget that there might be other children this December walking down to the mailbox with their father or mother to meet the mail carrier in anticipation of a gift to ease their strain.
Remember, your year-end gift will not only make a huge difference in the life of a seminary student, but it can also make a great difference in the life of a child!
-Karl K. Stegall