Seminary of the Southwest is excited to announce that it will offer full scholarship packages to the entire annual cohort of full-time residential Master of Divinity and Diploma of Anglican Studies students beginning with the 2025/26 academic year.
These scholarships will assist students by fully financing tuition, on-campus rent, health insurance through the Episcopal Church Medical Trust, books, and childcare. Made possible by the generous, expanded support of the Episcopal Foundation of Texas, this new approach will replace the previous award process that was based on demonstrated financial need.
“This ability to fully support so many students is exciting news, not just for Southwest but for the entire church,” said Dr. Scott Bader-Saye, dean and president. “We don’t want finances to get in the way of students experiencing the learning and formation offered at Southwest. Now anyone who feels called to be part of our community and who discerns that our academic strength, personal formation, and rich chapel life are what they need for vocational preparation will be able to enroll without financial barriers. We are very grateful to the Episcopal Foundation of Texas for making this happen.”
“I believe that the seminary is training mission minded clergy and counselors for the future. This grant extends a goal of providing scholarship dollars for the future of the church,” said the Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle, IX Bishop of Texas. “We support counseling students through other funds, and our seminarians of color have access to additional scholarships. If you believe in God, there is hope, and hope requires partners to multiply its blessings in the world. In the diocese we have hope beyond what the world can throw at us, and so we raise up and ensure our students won’t be inhibited from following Jesus due to funds for training.”
“Seminary of the Southwest has always sought to be a seminary for the whole Episcopal Church,” said the Rt. Rev. Kathryn M. Ryan, Bishop Suffragan in the Diocese of Texas and Chair of the Southwest Board of Trustees. “The financial weight of a seminary education, however, has long been a limiting factor for some students. This grant will free students seeking ordination in The Episcopal Church to access the unique formation offered by Seminary of the Southwest. We are grateful to the Episcopal Foundation of Texas for helping Southwest open the door wide and impact the mission of the whole Episcopal Church.”
“The work of the Church always needs more devoted and well-educated priests, and Seminary of the Southwest serves a vital role in preparing new clergy to serve in Texas and beyond,” said Bruce McDonald, president of the Episcopal Foundation of Texas’ board of trustees. “The Foundation is committed to helping the seminary support a broader pool of students who are called to ordained ministry.”
“Our commitment to residential formation is bolstered by building a learning-living community year-round in which our students thrive,” said the Rev. Hope Benko, Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Services. “Including health insurance from the same plans offered to clergy and lay leaders across the Episcopal church ensures our students won’t have to worry about medical costs keeping them from answering the call God has placed in their hearts.”
This investment by the Episcopal Foundation of Texas in students of Southwest’s theological education programs follows upon recent significant investments in Southwest’s Mental Health Counseling program, including gifts that established the Loise Henderson Wessendorff Chair of Latinx Counselor Education, funded the Richmond Area Bilingual Fellows Program and Harrison Fellows Program, and created the Loise Henderson Wessendorff Chair of Spiritual Integration in Counseling.
“These gifts to the counseling program have not only endowed very important faculty positions, they have made it possible for students to be paid for their supervised hours after graduation while helping provide mental health care to underserved populations in Texas,” said Dean Bader-Saye. “Having institutions like the Episcopal Foundation of Texas and the Henderson-Wessendorff Foundation invest so significantly in our programs – and specifically in our students and those who serve them – is a wonderful affirmation of the mission and vision of Seminary of the Southwest. We are grateful for these partnerships.”
