seminary scholarship funds

For those seeking funding help for theological graduate school and seminary education, here is a list of seminary scholarship funds that I have found (each may have specific qualifications):

• The Seminary Scholarship Fund Committee — Support Seminarians preparing for full-time Christian ministry amongst the Chinese in China and Asia/Pacific.
• Korean-American Scholarship, Global Mission Church, Scholarship Committee, 13421 Georgia Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20906; contact gmcscholarship@gmcusa.org — Scholarship for Korean-American students preparing for full-time ministry.
• David Yi-Suang Tein Memorial Scholarship — for those with a burden to minister to the Chinese people. More information via West Houston Chinese Church.
• Jonathan Theological Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 6756, Laguana Niguel, CA 92607-6756; contact jtscholarship@yahoo.com — Scholarship for students who have completed one year of theological study and who want to minister in a North American Chinese church.
• National Korean Presbyterian Women, Mrs. Hae Sook Nam, Moderator, 10505 Water Point Way, Mitchellville, MD 200721 — Grants for second generation Korean American women.
• Justin Haruyama Ministerial Scholarship Fund, Japanese American United Church, 255 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, 212-242-9444 — scholarship to full-time students in accredited Protestant seminaries who are preparing to serve Japanese American congregations.
• Chinese Christian Fellowship — Chinese students to study theology Scholarship Coordinator — Chinese Christian Fellowship, Inc., 549 West 123rd St., New York, NY 10027, (212) 666-3230
• Christian Women’s Association, for Korean American Students; Christian Women’s Association, Mrs. Young Won Paek, 2918 N. Lexington St., Arlington, VA 22207
• David Tamotsu Kagiwada Memorial Scholarship — Asian-American ministerial students who are member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
• Grace Foundation scholarships for students from Southeast Asia, Grace Foundation, PO Box 924, Menlo Park, CA 94025
• The Fund for Theological Education
• The Fund for Theological Education FundFinder — information about financial resources for theological students beyond those offered by FTE and individual theological institutions.
• Financial aid and scholarship info at seminary websites: Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Duke Divinity School, Fuller Theological Seminary, Dallas Theological Seminary, Bethel Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, Emory School of Theology, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Luther Seminary, Erskine Seminary (South Carolina)
• PC(USA)’s Presbyterian Study Grant, Racial Ethnic Supplemental Grant
• SeminaryGradSchool.com’s Costs, Grants, and Scholarships Search
• College Answer’s Scholarship Search– search database that contains more than 2.8 million scholarships worth over 16 billion dollars

Also see this Seminary Bound blog — for info from the experiences of individuals with various seminaries.

Please add a comment with other seminary scholarship information.

The Next Generation of Asian Americans Reaches Out

In the Jan/Feb 2008 issue of REV Magazine, DJ Chuang wrote a brief snapshot of 5 innovative churches being led by next generation Asian American pastors in this article titled, “The Next Generation of Asian Americans Reaches Out: Taking the best of both worlds from their Asian family heritage and their American surroundings, innovative Asian-American pastors are shaping multi-Asian and multi-ethnic churches.” The article can be viewed online or you can download PDF. The article is reprinted here by permission, Rev! Magazine, Copyright 2008, Group Publishing, Inc., Box 481, Loveland, CO 80539.

The article featured these 5 innovative churches:

• NewSong Church (Irvine, CA and 3 other locations)
• Grace Covenant Church (3 locations in the Philadelphia area)
• Vox Veniae (Austin, TX)
• Lakeview Church (2 locations in the Chicago area)
• Church of All Nations (Minneapolis/ St. Paul, MN area)

reaching 2nd generation Vietnamese Americans

Great time sharing with about 180 Vietnamese pastors, wives, and women leaders at this Vietnamese C&MA pastors conference. They pull this together every other year. Good question and answer discussions, we all have the same heart, desiring to see the 2nd generation reached with the Gospel. Here’s the Powerpoint slides I spoke from, with Vietnamese subtitles:

Download the Powerpoint slides: Second Generation Churches in America.

Download or listen to audio in English with Vietnamese translation (mp3).

Upcoming conferences:

• Southeast Asian Leadership Summit in metro DC – March 13-15
• Asian American Leadership Conference in Fullerton – March 24-26 www.aalc2008.org

Other helpful resources:

• L2 Foundation’s Resource Center - over 350+ resources listed in this web directory
• Asian American Youth Ministry book
• CONVERSATIONS: Asian American Evangelical Theologies in Formation book
• Following Jesus Without Dishonoring Your Parents by Jeanette Yep, coordinator, with Peter Cha, Susan Cho Van Riesen, Greg Jao, and Paul Tokunaga
• Growing Healthy Asian American Churches ~ edited by Peter Cha, Steve Kang, Helen Lee
• Invitation to Lead: Guidance for Emerging Asian American Leaders by Paul Tokunaga
• Pursuing the Pearl : A Comprehensive Resource for Multi-Asian Ministry by Kenneth Uyeda Fong

presenting at Vietnamese pastors conference

Here at Calvary Chapel’s conference center in Murietta, CA, for an overnighter with Bumble Ho. Tomorrow AM, I’ll be presenting to about 150 CM+A Vietnamese pastors and women leaders about churches that are reaching 2nd generation Asian Americans. Most in attendance are older 1st generation, so my talk may likely be translated.

My powerpoint slides already have Vietnamese subtitles. I updated my slides with some Vietnamese American statistics, and intergenerational church models and suggestions.

I plan to record my talk, and will share it here with you.

[update] View and/or download Powerpoint slides at next post.

7 suggestions for English ministry in ethnic churches

Pastor Joshua Kang of Lakeview Church (Chicago) presented 7 suggestions for a fruitful English ministry in a workshop to Korean pastors at the Evangelical Covenant denomination’s Midwinter conference. Here are his 7 suggestions:

1. View English Ministry as a church-plant in the mission field, rather than considering it as just another department within the first generation church.
2. Treat the 2nd generations with the expectation that God will use them greatly in the future, rather than looking down on them for their present immaturity.
3. Invite a full-time pastor for the EM, and invest in his/her growth as a leader/pastor first before expecting immediate growth of the EM.
4. Create an ideal situation for the growth of EM, while challenging them to grow in their sense of ownership and responsibilities.
5. Put spiritual goals before cultural goals.
6. Allow EM to establish their own ministry goals and strategies, and encourage them to grow toward independence.
7. Launch EM as an independent church in due time, and have both churches commit to the vision of planting more churches.

You may read his entire workshop notes in Korean – view on-screen or download PDF (Korean font needed). Posted with permission.