Changes made to leadership grant program

Several changes have been made to the Leadership Training Matching Grant (LTMG), a program of the Canadian MB Conference that assists students financially during their seminary and undergraduate education.

A stronger emphasis will be placed on church involvement in the process of discernment. Further, the funding percentages have been modified in order to increase the number of students who can be funded.

The LTMG had its beginnings at the 2002 Canadian MB convention in response to the challenge of calling out and retaining ministry leaders within our churches. It was designed to partner with churches to ease the financial burden of full-time students at MB Biblical Seminary (MBBS) or in their final year of a degree program at an MB undergraduate school.

One of the program’s core values is that congregations call out and champion emerging leaders. To strengthen this involvement by churches, applicants will now be required to complete the discernment process as outlined in the booklet, Finding leaders for tomorrow’s churches: discernment resources for churches (available in hard copy by writing LTMG or by downloading it from the web site).

To encourage more students to become involved in the program, MBBS students will now be funded for a maximum of three years, with funding in the second and third years at a reduced percentage. College students will be funded at 25 percent of tuition fees, rather than 50 percent as before.

Churches will continue to support their students at 25 percent of tuition fees for all years of LTMG funding and at all levels.

The first years of the program have been very positive for students and congregations alike. “Thank you so much for the incredible resource this has been to me,” wrote Brad Sumner, who is leading a satellite church plant out of the North Langley (B.C.) Community Church. “It has enabled me to accomplish the otherwise impossible – the completion of a seminary education. The classes I’ve taken have had a direct impact on my effectiveness as a pastor.”

Cam Rowland, director of Discipleship Ministries (DM), says, “We look forward to continuing to work with local churches as they discern and support emerging leaders.

—DM release