General Seminary initiates F.A.R. and Wide Scholarship Program

First recipient will represent GTS in Tanzania this summer

Posted Apr 23, 2012

[General Theological Seminary] The General Theological Seminary April 23 announced the F.A.R. and Wide Scholarship in Mission and World Anglicanism which allows one matriculated General student to travel to a foreign nation to experience the mission activity being carried on there by the Episcopal Church. The Scholarship takes its name from the bishops who helped initiate the program: the Rt. Rev. Leo Frade (Diocese of Southeast Florida), the Rt. Rev. J. Neil Alexander (Diocese of Atlanta), and the Rt. Rev. Catherine S. Roskam (Diocese of New York). The duration of stay will be from three to six weeks. This summer’s scholarship recipient is GTS senior J.K. Melton. He will work in the Diocese of Central Tanganyika (Tanzania) under the mentorship of the Rev. Sandra McCann, an official missionary of the Episcopal Church.

“We are so pleased to offer a structured and supported opportunity to engage in mission. J.K. will be the first of many GTS students to advance their experience and understanding of the worldwide church through the F.A.R. and Wide program, which is much more than a ‘mission trip,'” said the Rev. James Reho, GTS Chaplain and director of the program. “The F.A.R. and Wide Scholarship encourages students to live into the missional foundation of their calling and to relate their theological work to a deep and globally-oriented praxis upon their return, so essential to the church remaining relevant and vibrant in today’s world. The F.A.R. and Wide program will enrich not only the experience of the student scholars chosen, but the entire General Seminary community as we renew our work in ‘forming and educating leaders for the church in a changing world.’ We look forward to the many new relationships and horizons that will open through this program, and are deeply grateful to Bishops Frade, Alexander, and Roskam for their support.”

The particular work engaged by future scholarship recipients will be determined by the needs of the mission area, the skills and interests of the selected student, and the work currently underway. Upon return, the recipient will help to raise awareness of the program, both on the GTS campus and church-wide and will assist in future funding efforts for the scholarship. The F.A.R. and Wide Scholarship in Mission and World Anglicanism covers all travel costs as well as food and lodging. “I am very excited—and quite humbled—to represent General Seminary in Tanzania this summer,” said Melton. “In my prior global mission experience, I have visited the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Liberia. In those visits, I learned that relationship is at the heart of mission. Not only do those relationships deepen my experience of Christ, they have transformed my understanding of the church as it is expressed through the world-wide Anglican Communion. Such relationships are vital to being and maintaining a global communion.”

Upon the announcement of the first recipient of the scholarship, Roskam wrote, “This scholarship is very close to my heart, not just because I am one of the bishops for whom it is named, but because of the transformative global perspective it offers the recipient. I strongly believe that we are neither “first world” nor “two thirds world” but one world–God’s world– interconnected, each with gifts to offer the other in a spirit of mutuality and trust, each with shared responsibilities to further the cause of justice, peace and the care of God’s creation. The Anglican Communion is a treasure, particularly well suited to enable this kind of connection in service of God’s mission.”


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