Courtney Weller, a member of Good Shepherd, Glenville who participated in a Project Connect internship (see story below) with Pastor Amber Malone, was Upstate New York's first "Fund for Leaders" Scholar in 2010. Courtney has completed her first year at Gettysburg Seminary. This year Courtney will be participating in the Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program of the ELCA. She begins service soon in Jerusalem and Palestine. We invite your prayers for her during this year and for the other twelve Upstate New York Synod Seminarians as they prepare to begin another academic year.

The Fund for Leaders provides scholarships to seminarians to attend any ELCA seminary. Upstate New York Synod has its own Fund for Leaders account. Our goal is to increase its principal so that more scholarships are available. Part of the gift from the closing of Friendship Lutheran will go to the Fund for Leaders in memory of Pastor Arnold Nicholson.

The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia is the Region 7 seminary with which Upstate New York Synod is in a formal supporting partnership. Gifts to the Feed the Roots Capital Appeal will also increase scholarship support for seminarians attending "our" seminary.