The Alabama Baptist’s board of directors announced a new $25,000 scholarship endowment Feb. 25 in honor of TAB Editor Jennifer Davis Rash’s 25th anniversary at the publication.
The Jennifer Davis Rash Scholarship Endowment will provide scholarships at Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School to help underrepresented minorities who are members of Southern Baptist churches to further their theological education.
Rash’s 25 years of service are a “monumental accomplishment” that shows her commitment to “serving TAB and Alabama Baptists,” said Rob Jackson, chairman of TAB’s board. “As we were thinking about the best way to honor her in that, there was no better way than providing a scholarship so that women might be able to further their education at Beeson, a place Jennifer attended and loves.”
Rash has a heart for furthering the kingdom of God, and the students who benefit from the scholarship will be part of that legacy now, Jackson said.
Gary Fenton, who also serves on TAB’s board of directors, said Baptists have been blessed by Rash’s contributions at TAB.
Grateful for service
“We’re very grateful for her 25 years of service to The Alabama Baptist. She has served in so many roles and now doing an outstanding job as editor,” Fenton said. “We have benefited from her so much, and we are so grateful for the innovative approach she’s bringing at a time when Baptist news publications are in the process of changing and often declining.”
Kristen Padilla, director of The Center for Women in Ministry and manager of marketing and communications at Beeson Divinity School, called Rash “an excellent example of a woman who has used her theological training and gifts for the service of the Church.”
“As a Beeson alumna, Jennifer represents Beeson Divinity School extremely well and has played a pivotal role in the formation of Beeson’s new Center for Women in Ministry as an advisory board member,” Padilla said. “This new scholarship in her name will encourage and enable more women like Jennifer who are called by God to serve him in Christian ministry to receive theological training, and there’s no better place for Baptist women to prepare for ministry and be supported in their studies than at Beeson Divinity School.”
Rash earned her master of theological studies degree from Beeson in 2007.
The scholarship was announced during the executive committee meeting of TAB’s board of directors. The first scholarship from the endowment will be given in Fall 2022.
How to give to the scholarship
Anyone wishing to give to the scholarship endowment can do so by going to the Beeson giving website: www.beesondivinity.com/giving or by mailing a check to:
Beeson Divinity School
Att: Gary Fenton
800 Lakeshore Drive
Birmingham, AL 35229
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