Church association helps to fund collegiate dreams
By John Joyce
Published in News on December 30, 2012 1:50 AM
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News-Argus/BOBBY WILLIAMS
Bria Edwards of Best Grove Missionary Baptist Church accepts her $500 scholarship Saturday afternoon from the Western Ministers, Deacons and Sunday School Union, which handed out $6,300 to students.
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News-Argus/BOBBY WILLIAMS
Chantrel Reynolds of First Baptist Church in Fremont speaks about what her scholarship means to her.
After the call to worship, the congregation stood, sang "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," and said "Amen," giving thanks to the Lord.
The ladies, in their best Sunday dresses and flowered hats, clapped during the opening hymn.
The men wore suits with three-button jackets.
The Western Ministers, Deacons and Sunday School Union then awarded $6,000 in the form of $500 scholarships to 12 union-member college students Saturday. The awards were handed out during a ceremony that preceded the youth literary program at Bear Creek Church at 1800 S. Slocumb St.
An additional three awards -- $100 each -- were given to young men and women eager to begin their education or start on their career paths after graduating high school.
Scholarship Chairwoman the Rev. Linda Skinner, of Augustus Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Dudley, has been preaching for four years and an active member in the church and union for more than 50 years.
"We thank God for being able to award (these) scholarships on this day," Ms. Skinner said. If it was not for the young people and their ambitions, she said, there would not be a desire or a need to "love in deed and not just in word."
In the past five years alone, said union president the Rev. Paul Battle, the union has given more that $25,000 in scholarships to more than 30 students.
Ms. Skinner said she can recall when the program first began the scholarships were as little as $50.
"We started doing a banquet about six years ago, that's how those funds are generated. Now we have had doctors and lawyers that stemmed from the union," she said.
The students selected to receive scholarships must be actively enrolled in school and maintain participation in the union. There is a certification process and a board that approves each scholarship recipient, and ministers, deacons and pastors speak on their behalves.
The students invest as much time and effort in the church as they do in school.
"It started from a young age, it just kind of becomes second nature," said recipient Chantrel Reynolds of the First Baptist Church in Fremont.
Ms. Reynolds, a journalism major at UNC Chapel Hill, said that her interest in the field of journalism began when she worked at the UNC office of multicultural affairs.
Bria Edwards, who also claimed a scholarship, is a senior studying accounting and psychology at N.C. State University.
"I'll have to second what (Chantrel) said, I've been involved in the church since 3 or 4 years old," said Ms. Edwards. "The elders have looked out for me a lot too," she said.
The students awarded scholarships Saturday range from freshmen to seniors at schools as close as Mount Olive College and Wayne Community College, and as far as Fayetteville State, UNC Chapel Hill and East Carolina in Greenville.
"What I'm most proud of," said union president Battle, "is that when they would come back, or write letters home, they would thank us for what we've done."
Two more students are awaiting completion of the certification process, and will be awarded their scholarships in the weeks to come.
Receiving scholarships Saturday were:
* Paul Williams of Antioch Baptist Church
* Shanice Foye of Antioch Baptist Church
* Vanessa Holloman of Augustus Chapel Missionary Baptist Church
* Foy L. Coley of Barnes Chapel
* Bria Edwards of Best Grove Missionary Baptist Church
* Kemesha Brown of Best Grove Missionary Baptist Church
* Chantrel Reynolds of First Baptist Church inFremont
* Gregory Pugh of Hooks Grove Baptist Church
* Tevin Benton of Hooks Grove Baptist Church
* Miesha B. Walker of Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church
* Renita King of Atkinson Chapel Church
* Aunilia King of Atkinson Chapel Church