Gerard Bolling came to Concordia Seminary, St. Louis from his Brooklyn, N.Y., home to become a faithful minister of the Gospel.

Now in his fourth year at the Seminary, Bolling, 25, is thankful for the Robert H. King Minority Student Endowment Fund Scholarship for helping reduce his tuition costs and make his dream of a Seminary education a reality.

“I knew that this Seminary was the place for me … to cause real change in people’s lives through the power of the Holy Spirit working in me,” said Bolling, who is married to Lorenda, a Lutheran school teacher. “This Seminary gives me the tools to do just that.”

Numerous awards and scholarships are available to eligible students for meritorious performance and exceptional financial situations. For more information, visit www.csl.edu/admissions/financial.

The Robert H. King Minority Student Endowment Fund was created in 1994 to provide scholarships to African-Americans and other minority students working on a Master of Divinity at the Seminary.

Today, more than two decades later, the fund is the largest single source of scholarships for men studying to become pastors at the Seminary. It is one of six endowed scholarships available for minority students.

This academic year, 13 students are benefiting from the fund, which was created by an anonymous donor in recognition of Dr. Robert H. King, an African-American who served as a Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod vice president for 21 years, having been elected seven times. King, of Jefferson City, Mo., was ordained in 1949.

While the amount available for the King scholarship varies, based on market fluctuations, it has provided about $7,300 per student per year in recent years or
about 40 percent of the average student’s out-of-pocket tuition costs.

The King scholarship is one of several that Bolling receives to attend the Seminary. He said he looks forward to Call Day and entering the Office of Holy Ministry.

“If I could pray one prayer every day, it would be for God to make me a faithful minister of the Gospel so that I could ignite in peoples’ hearts, through the Holy Spirit, the faith of Jesus Christ, our heavenly Father,” he said. “I walk by faith toward the pastoral ministry, and the Lord God guides my steps.”

To learn more or to contribute to the Robert H. King Minority Student Endowment Fund, please contact Seminary advancement at [email protected] or 800-822-5287.

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2016 Concordia Seminary magazine.