Ministerial Student Grant program takes off

The inaugural batch of Ministerial Student Grants will help students at five seminaries pursue studies beyond their campuses in the coming year.

The new grant program provides grants of up to $3,000 for selected M.Div. students to support research projects, educational experiences outside the student's institution, study-related travel, or other opportunities.

A total of $7,760 will be distributed to these students:

• Diane Faires of the Disciples Divinity House at Vanderbilt will join in Week of Compassion's trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina this summer.

• Jonathan Hall at Eden Theological Seminary will use the grant to help underwrite a semester at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute in Geneva, Switzerland. Hall will also receive major funding from the Council on Christian Unity.

• Linda Harding of Denver Seminary will participate in a trip to Turkey and Greece, studying Biblical sites and learning about the cultures from which Christianity grew.

• Erin Moore at the Disciples Seminary Foundation will create a Disciples-focused study guide to "Our Whole Lives," a sexuality education curriculum.

• Deb Phelps of Christian Theological Seminary aims to create "The Net Christian Church," an online congregation that will reach potential Disciples who are unable to participate in traditional brick-and-mortar congregations.