Two Memphis Conference college students were awarded the 2016-17 Walter Russell Lambuth undergraduate scholarship, according to an August announcement from the Memphis Conference Connectional Ministries office and Board of Higher Education and Campus Ministry.

The scholarship awards are one example of how the Memphis Conference “Invests in young people,” one of its “four areas of focus,” according to Dr. Joe Geary, director of Connectional Ministries for the Memphis Conference.

Kathryn Nation, a sophomore at Martin Methodist College in Pulaski, Tennessee, and Kirk Presley, a junior at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, each received a $1,400 scholarship. Nation is a member of Baker’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Big Sandy, Tennessee, and Presley is a member of Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee.

The scholarship fund is administered by the United Methodist Foundation for the Memphis and Tennessee Conferences, which has forwarded the scholarship awards to the students’ schools. Both schools are United Methodist-related institutions, a requirement to receive the awards.

Award amounts for the Lambuth scholarship vary from year to year, based on investment performance of the scholarship fund, explained Geary.

May 20 was the deadline to apply for 2016-17 awards.

The Lambuth scholarship fund was created after the closing of Methodist-affiliated Lambuth University in Jackson, Tennessee, in 2011. The Lambuth campus is now part of the University of Memphis.

Click here to read more about Bishop Lambuth.

Minimum criteria for 2016-17 scholarship awards were as follows:

  • Applicant must be a member of a United Methodist Church in the Memphis or Tennessee Conference for a minimum of two years immediately prior to applying for this award.
  • Applicant must complete the application from the Conference Board of Higher Education and Campus Ministry in the conference in which their church is located.
  • Applicant must be (or be accepted as) a full-time student (12 or more credit hours) in a United Methodist-related college or university.
  • Applicant must have a minimum score of 21 on the ACT and a high school or college/university GPA of 3.0.
  • Scholarship must be used during one academic year and the applicant can apply for renewal through this scholarship application process each year.

The deadline and instructions to apply for 2017-18 will be announced in 2017.

*Courtesy of Memphis Conference UMC News*