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Ministry Scholarship Foundation
According to a wide variety of sources, 1500 ministers leave the ministry each month in the United States due to moral failure, burnout, or contention in their churches, fifty percent of pastor’s marriages will end in divorce and eighty percent of those in pastoral leadership feel unqualified and discouraged in their ministry role.
Through our own story of failure and restoration, Kathy and I know first-hand the desperate need pastors, missionaries, and others in ministry leadership roles have for a safe place. Ministry leaders carry a huge load of concern, care and responsibility for those they lead, but often have no one to share their own burdens with. And when tension, pressure, crisis or burnout hits, those in these leadership roles seldom have the financial resources needed to get the help required.
The Ministry Scholarship Foundation provides scholarships of up to $2000.00 to help with the cost of a five-day ministry intensive. The total cost of the intensive is $3950.00, and it is our belief that in most situations, it is best if the ministry leader or their church covers the balance of the intensive if at all possible. Our goal is to be able to provide 15-20 scholarships each year to ministry leaders who desperately need a safe place, a place to grow, to be encouraged and challenged, and a place where the broken places of their lives can be healed. The gifts designated in this scholarship fund will provide ministry leaders access to the help many of them desperately need.
Every time a ministry leader is able to be restored and renewed, there are often, literally hundreds if not thousands of other lives impacted. We have seen the power and truth of the statement “healthy pastors and wives produce healthy churches”. When the pastor’s marriage is healthy and growing, that life flows into the life of the congregations. But unfortunately, the opposite is true as well.
Just recently I received an email from a pastor who is in a desperate place. He wrote: “My wife and I feel burned-out in our ministry at our church. The church has been through a lot of "garbage" (for lack of a better way of saying it) the last 4-5 years. It quite frankly has worn us out! It is my hope that my wife and I could do an intensive week with you sometime in the next few years…we are dealing with ministry issues at church, financial issues in our home, and the list goes on...”
My heart broke when he said he wanted to do an intensive “in the next few years”. My concern is that pastors like this man and many others we hear from will not be around in the next few years if they do not get the help they need now. Help is available; the biggest problem the folks we hear from has to do with the financial means to take advantage of the resources that are available.
We would like to ask you to prayerfully consider partnering with us in this ministry to those who minister. When we help these who are on the front lines of ministry, we are helping multitudes in congregations, on mission fields and in other ministry settings.
The Ministry Scholarship Foundation is administrated by the Board of Directors of The Center. An application is completed by those who want to come to an intensive which details the need, the specifics of the situation the minister is dealing with as well as other pertinent background data. Then our Board reviews the application and makes a decision on releasing the scholarship funds. When an applicant is approved, there is also a prayer-team activated to pray for the couple as they go through the intensive. Follow-up sessions by phone or in person if possible, are also scheduled to reinforce and continue the process of growth and discovery, offering on-going encouragement and accountability.
Thank you for taking the time to hear our hearts and to prayerfully consider this very significant need. If you are interested in helping us minister to the ministers, you may make a secure donation by clicking the button above, and if you would like more information, please contact us.
Blessings,
Dr. Keith and Kathy Davis
