Higher education Partners in ministry N
By Jill Dierberg Clark
eeding respite from Seattle’s daily grind, Christoph Schmidt embarked on a journey to Holden Village in 2005. The retreat center in the Cascade Mountains
offered him the chance to recharge and refocus during the winter months. There he met Taryn Montgomery, who was serving in Holden’s kitchen as a seasonal volunteer. When the couple’s paths first crossed that winter, little
did they know that their meeting would catapult them on a journey toward seminary, marriage and ministry.
Embracing the call to seminary Having both grown up in the Lutheran church, Montgom- ery’s and Schmidt’s calls to ministry began at early ages. Schmidt, a pastor’s kid, attended a Lutheran high school
in Fargo, N.D., and subsequently ventured to Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., where he studied music edu- cation. Montgomery, an Illinois native, said she first heard the call while attending summer camp in Wisconsin when an ELCA pastor told her she had the “essential gifts” for ordained ministry. Years later she studied theology at Texas Lutheran University, Seguin. Attending semi-
The ELCA Fund for Leaders (www.
elca.org/fundforleaders) is a merit- based scholarship program that equips people to become pastors and ros- tered lay leaders through scholarships to study at an ELCA seminary.
nary after graduat- ing from college might have been a natural next step
for both, but they ended up pursuing other opportunities instead. For Schmidt, an eight-year stint in Washington involving a long-term volunteer position at Holden and a leadership position with Lutheran Youth of North Seattle solidified his call. For Montgomery, volunteer work with Lutheran Volunteer Corps and with ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission in Kenya eventually led her to seminary. “During those two years, I felt my call was affirmed by
my relationship with Christ and those around me—semi- nary was where God was leading me,” she said.
The power of support Montgomery began her first year at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in 2007, when Schmidt was start- ing his second year. Shortly after, their acquaintance turned into a much deeper connection—they were married in 2008. Both were recipients of full-tuition scholarships through
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www.thelutheran.org
Christoph Schmidt and Taryn Montgomery, shown with their daughter Magdalene, were ELCA Fund for Leaders recipients and are ministers in different settings. Montgomery is a pastor of Bread of Life Lutheran Church, Minot, N.D., and Schmidt is campus pastor at Minot State University.
the ELCA Fund for Leaders, an endowment started in 2000 to provide financial assistance to outstanding leaders. In its first year, it funded eight seminarians. This academic year, 235 seminarians will receive more than $1.6 million to pur- sue service as pastors and rostered lay leaders in the ELCA. “This initiative has illustrated a true commitment to
supporting the future leaders of this church,” said Rachel Wind, director for the Fund for Leaders. “Our long-term goal is to support each and every qualified candidate for rostered leadership.” Schmidt, who was in the midst of several medical treat-
ments when he received the scholarship, said he was deeply grateful for the financial support. “My medical debt was through the roof,” he said. “I can’t imagine how we would have paid for seminary on top of it.” Knowing the support of the whole church was behind
them was inspiring, Schmidt said. “These [donors] are pas- sionate Lutherans investing in something they believe in. This is God’s work, and they want to be a part of it,” he said. During their studies, the couple met some of the donors.
One such donor is Chicagoan Kent Dauten, who estab- lished a fund to honor his late father, Paul M. Dauten Jr. “My wife Liz and I could think of no better way to honor [my father’s] memory than to create these scholarships in
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