Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, is pleased to announce the establishment of the Dr. Robert H. King Endowment for Minority Students. The endowment was initiated by an anonymous donor who has a strong desire to increase the number of African-American pastors in The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod. It has a beginning balance of $250,000.

The endowment will be used to assist in covering tuition costs for minority students who attend Concordia Seminary, with first preference given to African-American students. "Endowments such as this assist us in the commitment we made to guarantee that all tuition costs will be met for students at Concordia Seminary who are preparing to serve as pastors in our church," said Leonard Fiedler, Vice President for Development at Concordia. "Between a student's home congregation, home district and Concordia Seminary, we have made a pledge to our students and to the church that we will cover tuition costs for students. We encourage others in the church to follow the lead of this anonymous donor and Dr. King in achieving this challenging goal."

In announcing the endowment, Dr. John F. Johnson, President of Concordia Seminary, stated "Dr. King has always been willing and eager to assist Concordia Seminary with its recruitment efforts. His special passion has been the recruitment of African-American men for the pastoral ministry. We are delighted that this fund will bear his name, and we know that he joins us in the hope that this fund will not only provide a great deal of financial assistance for minority students, but will also encourage many others to pursue seminary preparation in the future."

To provide additional support for this endowment or to learn about other opportunities to provide assistance to those preparing for the pastoral ministry, contact the Development Office, Concordia Seminary, 801 DeMun Ave., St. Louis, MO 63105; or by phone 1-800-822-5287; or by email (SemSupport@csl.edu).