RTS is pleased to announce the launch of the African American Leadership Scholarship beginning in the 2018-19 academic year.
The African American Leadership Scholarship is a 50% scholarship for African American students who have experience in and a heart for ministry in African American, multiethnic, or urban contexts. It is for RTS students in any degree program at any campus.
With the African American Leadership Scholarship, RTS is reaching out to a specific ethnic demographic in RTS’s local context. RTS has campuses in cities that have substantial African American populations: Jackson 80%, Memphis 63%, Atlanta 52%, Washington 47%, and Charlotte 34%. In an effort to accomplish our Purpose and Vision, “to serve the church in all branches of evangelical Christianity,” we want to be intentional to make the Reformed tradition and theological education especially accessible to those branches of the church that we have largely failed to reach.
While RTS’s Missional Commitment includes a celebration of the diversity of culture, language, and ethnicity in the Kingdom of God (as seen in Rev 5:9), the goal of this scholarship is not diversity at RTS, though that will be a beneficial byproduct to campus life that will impact the leadership of the church for generations to come. The goal of this scholarship is to serve a diverse church. Leaders from the African American community are better equipped to reach the African American community. By partnering with the church in the African American community to raise up leaders for the church by making theological education more accessible, RTS can better serve all branches of evangelical Christianity.
More information is available on the African American Leadership Scholarship webpage. For questions about the African American Leadership Scholarship, please contact either an RTS campus admissions office or the Director of Financial Aid, Brian Gault.
If you wish to contribute financially to support this new initiative, you can give directly through rts.edu/give and note “AALS” in the Special Notes or Instructions field.
Ligon Duncan, Chancellor and CEO, Reformed Theological Seminary
“From Olaudah Equiano, to Phyllis Wheatley, to John Chavis, to Frances Grimké, to Carl Ellis, Reformed Theology has deeply influenced African American Christianity, and African Americans have made major contributions to Reformed Theology. Today, we are in the midst of a significant reformed awakening in the African American community. By God’s grace, Reformed Theological Seminary has been doing what we can to aid the growth and flourishing of this happy providence. For almost 50 years RTS has had a small, steady stream of African American students, but since the launch of the African American Leadership Initiative (AALI) in 2012, we have seen explosive growth in African American students at RTS. Now, with the establishment of the African American Leadership Scholarship, we aim to take our investment to the next level, and expand our commitment to preparing a new generation of African American pastors, missionaries, educators, counselors, and leaders for service to the whole church and world.”
Thabiti Anyabwile, Pastor, Anacostia River Church
“The African American Leadership Scholarship is not only the kind of tangible support that redresses past neglect but most importantly makes a vital investment in the spread of gospel influence in all communities. Among evangelical seminaries RTS continues to be a leader at working to see the Good News go to every nation, beginning with the people in the next community.”
Jerry Young, Pastor, New Hope Baptist Church; President, National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.
“The African American Leadership Scholarship will provide the opportunity for more African Americans to study at a world-renowned Christian institution, namely, Reformed Theological Seminary, where they will become well equipped to serve and provide Christian leadership within their realm of ministry. This scholarship provides financial resources that will allow them to matriculate through RTS and receive sound, biblically-based knowledge and skills to positively interact and impact society to the glory of our God and the good of His people, world-wide.”