United Methodists pledge $13.8 million to Perkins for scholarships
7/28/2000 News media contact: Linda Green · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn By United Methodist News Service The 17 annual conferences in the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church have pledged $13.8 million in scholarships for seminary students to attend Perkins School of Theology and have given a financial boost to Southern Methodist University's five-year $400 million endowment campaign.
The impetus for the pledge to the Dallas-based theological school was a matching grant from Charles and Elizabeth Perkins Prothro of Wichita Falls, Texas. The Prothros originally pledged $4 million in matching funds for the seminary's scholarship campaign but increased that amount to $6 million to meet the response of the annual conferences that comprise the eight-state South Central Jurisdiction. Their son, C. Vincent (Vin) Prothro, and his wife, Caren, pledged $1 million to the Perkins campaign.
"This ambitious scholarship campaign represents an unprecedented partnership between church and theology school," said R. Gerald Turner, president of Southern Methodist University, which houses the theological school.
"We are deeply grateful for the vision of Charles and Elizabeth Prothro and the commitment of conferences throughout the jurisdiction to help Perkins School of Theology meet the challenge of preparing leadership for the United Methodist Church's ministry in the 21st century," he said.
The Houston-based Texas Annual Conference gave $2 million, half from the conference and half from the Moody Memorial First United Methodist Church in Galveston. The other conferences pledged between $100,000 and $1 million each, to be matched by the Prothro family and the Perkins Foundation.
"The generous response of the jurisdictional conferences in this scholarship campaign exceeded our high hopes and expectations," said the Rev. Robin W. Lovin, dean at Perkins. "These combined gifts will help to make a Perkins education affordable for promising and dedicated
ministerial candidates throughout the South Central Jurisdiction."
In addition to scholarship pledges, gifts from individuals in the South Central Jurisdiction, matched by Prothro funds, boosted the amount pledged to date for scholarships in the theology school to $16.3 million.
Launched in 1997, the five-year Southern Methodist University campaign seeks endowment and other support to continue strengthening the quality of students, faculty, academic programs and selected facilities.
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This article was adapted from information provided by Southern Methodist University's News and Information Office.
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