Each year Luther Seminary presents the Graduate Preaching Fellowship to a M.Div. senior who intends to enter parish ministry and is committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the sake of the church and God’s mission in the world. The fellowship supports a year of overseas travel to inform the recipient’s preaching through a combination of study and experience abroad.
We are pleased to announce that the recipient for this year’s fellowship is Janet Karvonen-Montgomery.
Karvonen-Montgomery intends to use her gifts for preaching and communicating to reach those in many walks of life. She’ll also use her history as a stellar Minnesota basketball player—honored in the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame—to reach out to girls and women throughout the world, using a common love of the game to forge new relationships and learn how women are taking leadership roles in the life of the church today.
“Basketball is a natural entré for me in sharing the gospel with others,” Karvonen-Montgomery says. “I believe God has used it to develop my own voice and to set me free from fear, doubt and hopelessness for the purpose of valuing and validating the lives of others. Sharing my expertise with various populations can be a way to give, to share and to grow a relationship. Sports and interaction with a ball can also help transcend language barriers.”
Karvonen-Montgomery also plans to use her pre-seminary training as both an athlete and as a journalist to help her find and then tell the stories of women in the church throughout the world.
“My sports success propelled me to dare to enter into many arenas traditionally dominated by men,” she says. “In spheres of sports, news reporting, entrepreneurship, public speaking, broadcasting and coaching, I have developed a voice of possibility for others.”
During her fellowship year, Karvonen-Montgomery plans to visit Sweden, Finland, Columbia, Nicaragua, Shanghai, China and Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
As part of her travels and study, she plans to produce a documentary by interviewing women around the world who are currently serving in positions of leadership in the church.