Lee University recently announced the winners of a new scholarship program that will annually award ten $4,000 scholarships to first-year students who indicate a desire to prepare for full-time ministry.
The Poiema Ministry Scholarship winners are Jamie Dionne, of Union, Miss.; Jesse Fletcher, of Eatonton, Ga.; Kyle Hinch, of Grandview, Tenn.; Monica Jackson, of Johnson City, Tenn.; Erich Lacks, of Crofton, Ky.; Christopher Madden, of Greer, S.C.; Michelle Patterson, of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; Lee Prichard, of Potosi, Mo.; Matthew Propes, of Akron, Ohio; and Lindsey Wessel, of Muncie, Ind.
This scholarship will be renewable for one year and can be combined with other scholarships, grants and loans. Recipients of the scholarship may volunteer to assist in the School of Religion, Campus Pastor’s Office or other similar offices.
The winners were selected based on the following criteria: a clear goal for future ministry, strong spiritual values, leadership in church-related activities, ACT/SAT test scores, high school or college GPA, and financial need.
The Poiema Ministry Scholarship is a part of the Poiema Project, a new program, made possible by a $2 million grant from the Indiana-based Lilly Endowment. The five-year program, directed by Dr. Maxine Gernert, will initiate a campus-wide “theological exploration of vocation and God’s calling,” according to the grant proposal, and was called “a program which will help Lee students become leaders in a way which integrates their career goals with their faith commitments,” according to Lee President Dr. Paul Conn.
“Getting this grant was a genuine team effort,” said Dr. Carolyn Dirksen, Lee’s Vice President for Academic Affairs. “A lot of people worked hard for a year to complete this proposal, and we are excited about what it can mean not just to our academic program, but to our entire community.”
The Lilly Endowment is a private foundation which has supported higher education and other causes since 1937. Lee is one of 39 liberal arts colleges and universities, ranging from Seton Hall University on the East Coast to Occidental College on the West Coast, to receive grants as part of the Endowment’s initiative “to help prepare a new generation of leaders for church and society.” Over 300 schools presented preliminary proposals to the Endowment during its selection process.
In order to emphasize the importance of a college degree in various ministry professions, priority for the Poiema Scholarships are given to aspiring male and female ministers. There will be other opportunities for ministerial students, such as new internships in the office of Campus Pastor Jimmy Harper, as well as the installment of new Residence Hall Chaplains positions. The chaplain program, under Harper’s direction, will appoint one junior or senior ministerial student to live in each dormitory to counsel and pray with residents. The residence hall chaplain would receive a $1,000 scholarship each semester.
Lee will also initiate a program called Ministry Quest to establish new minors such as Global Poverty. The new minors are for “non-traditional ministry – assisting people who are in need,” said Dr. Terry Cross, dean of Lee’s School of Religion.
“We are trying to spawn new types of ideas, programs, and supplements to our program that will undergird our belief that ministry is not just in the pulpit,” he said. Lee will also initiate the Faith Learning Institute (FLI) program, which will operate out of the School of Religion. The program, under the direction of Dr. Cross, will sponsor retreats for faculty, and eventually students as well, to discuss vocation and calling. There will be a retreat in May and June of each year, and trip participants will use the time to discuss assigned books they have read on vocation and calling in the past year.
As part of the prerequisites to receive the grant, the Endowment asked Lee to “explore the theological traditions” of the Pentecostal movement’s beliefs on vocational calling. Cross conducted extensive research on the subject over the past year, and his upcoming book, Answering the Call, will feature a compilation of that research. “What I discovered,” said Cross, “is that the Pentecostal tradition makes calling almost exclusively an issue of pulpit preaching. I think God gives us a variety of abilities, and doing them from a Christian perspective can be a ministry, whether it be plumbing or architecture.”
Therein lies another phase of the Poiema Project: to support the idea of using one’s career or occupation as a tool for ministry to the world outside the church. To encourage this concept, Lee will establish the new Office of Calling and Career, directed by Dr. Debby White. The office will replace the current Career Services Office and will offer students resources on career exploration, planning and placement.
Approximately ten ‘Strengths Vocational Advisors’ will be hired to help students match up their life plan with what they feel God’s calling is.
Lastly, students will see changes in the lineup of chapel speakers. A wider variety of speakers, incorporating those who have an occupation outside of ministry, are slated to be on the chapel schedule. One such speaker was John Sage, co-founder of Pura Vida Coffee, who spoke in late January. Pura Vida donates 100 percents of its net income to at-risk children in coffee growing areas.
“Sage’s calling is a part of who he is everyday,” said Harper. “We’re bringing in speakers like that over the next few years who would have the opportunity to say, ‘Whatever I am, that is brought together with God and my Christianity.’”
The overall goal of Poiema over the next five years will be to “change the culture on this campus to ask these questions of each other,” said Cross. “We’re not ignoring the traditional ministry,” he added. “We’re just expanding our understanding.”
Students interested in applying for the Poiema Ministry Scholarship next year can get more information from the Lee University Office of Admissions by calling
1-800-LEE-9930 or by visiting www.leeuniversity.edu.