JEFFERSON CITY – The MBC Historical Commission is offering three $2,000 scholarships to current and future students at three Baptist universities: Missouri Baptist University, Hannibal-LaGrange University and Southwest Baptist University. Those applying will fill out an application and write a research paper on some aspect of Missouri Baptist history.
Current high school seniors who are heading to one of the Baptist universities as well as students currently enrolled in the three Baptist universities are welcome to apply.
Historical Commission President Tony Jones, who is pastor at First Baptist Church of Rich Hill, told The Pathway “this is a scholarship that not a lot of people have heard about. It is an opportunity for students to explore and learn about Baptist history. As a result they may win a scholarship to help pay for the next year of university studies.”
In addition to the scholarship application, students will need to identify and research an area of Missouri Baptist history. They will write a paper of approximately 5-10 pages in length, not including cover and citations pages.
Guidelines say the paper does not have a specified topic to be covered other than they expect it to be one of interest to Missouri Baptists. They urge students to be creative in discovering Missouri Baptist Convention, Southwest Baptist University, Hannibal-LaGrange University or Missouri Baptist University history and sharing that history and insights learned n the paper.
Jones said, “The papers that catch our interest are those that do more in depth research rather than just a revision of information they have found on Wikipedia or from Google searches.”
Last year there were 18 papers submitted and Jones said he expects there will, be more in 2022. He added, “The students will want to do a thorough job of researching Baptist history in order to be competitive for one of the three scholarships.”
Scholarship applications are due by April 1 for awards made toward tuition in the fall semester of the same year. The application and research paper documents must be mailed or e-mailed to the office of Carla Stegeman, Missouri Baptist Convention, 400 E. High St., Jefferson City, MO 65101 or cstegeman@mobaptist.org.
The Historical Commission believes this scholarship program is a great benefit for the students to help spur their interest in Missouri Baptist history. The convention also agreed and the three universities have eagerly participated. Fifty percent of the funding comes from the MBC Cooperative Program and the other half of the scholarships are provided by the participating universities.
The scholarship applicants should be high school seniors planning to attend one of the three Baptist universities or undergraduate students currently enrolled in those schools.
If awarded a scholarship and the student decides not to attend the chosen university, the Historical Commission reserves the right to reallocate the scholarship to another student or not award the scholarship. The Commission reserves the right to publish or disseminate the paper or portions of it at their discretion.
The paper writing guidelines and application for the scholarships are available at the Historical Commission website: www.baptistparchments.org/preserving-history/baptist-heritage-scholarship or by contacting Carla Stegeman at the MBC offices: e-mail cstegeman@mobaptist.org or call 800-736-6227 ext. 301.