{"id":8475,"date":"2026-06-02T00:45:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T00:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/?p=8475"},"modified":"2026-06-02T14:52:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T14:52:46","slug":"saying-yes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2026\/06\/02\/saying-yes\/","title":{"rendered":"Saying &#8216;Yes&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Before they ever set foot in a Luther Seminary classroom, <strong>Aaron Schutte \u201926 M.Div.<\/strong>, <strong>Anna Belz-Brock \u201929 M.Div.<\/strong>, and <strong>Chelsey Hinrichsen \u201928 M.Div.<\/strong> were already practicing the kind of leadership the church needs most.<\/p>\n<p>Schutte grew up in a small-town Lutheran congregation where leadership looked like pitching in\u2014helping with Sunday school, Vacation Bible School, and eventually serving as a camp counselor. Later, his sense of call stretched far beyond his home congregation when he spent four years teaching in Tanzania through the ELCA and the Metropolitan New York Synod, discovering firsthand the depth and diversity of the global church.<\/p>\n<p>Belz-Brock\u2019s leadership story began with an early love for Lutheran theology. By age 13, she \u201csoaked it up like a sponge,\u201d and that passion propelled her into outdoor ministry, Bible camp, and the founding of a youth group at her church. In the relentless busyness of high school, she remembers rushing through homework for the sake of something that mattered more\u2014making space for her peers to gather, worship, and grow together.<\/p>\n<p>Hinrichsen came to Luther Seminary with a foundation formed in the LCMS, one she describes as \u201cincredible\u201d in shaping her faith. Over time, that foundation led to a search for a new church home with the ELCA. In her new congregation, she served as digital media director, creating a modern presence for online worshipers. She also helped organize her church\u2019s PRIDE presence, fully committed to LGBTQ+ allyship and building a community where more people can belong.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-8475 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-full'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/Aaron_Schutte_-51.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"A smiling man in a dark polo shirt stands in a modern building hallway with large glass windows and an orange wall in the background.\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-8476\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/Aaron_Schutte_-51.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/Aaron_Schutte_-51-208x300.jpg 208w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-8476'>\n\t\t\t\t<b>Aaron Schutte \u201926 M.Div<\/b>\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"396\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/image3-1.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-8480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/image3-1.jpeg 396w, https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/image3-1-275x300.jpeg 275w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 396px) 100vw, 396px\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-8480'>\n\t\t\t\t<b>Anna Belz-Brock \u201929 M.Div.<\/b> (courtesy photo)\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/Luther-Headshot.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-8482\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/Luther-Headshot.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/Luther-Headshot-278x300.jpg 278w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-8482'>\n\t\t\t\t<b>Chelsey Hinrichsen \u201928 M.Div.<\/b>\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>Together, these three students embody the empowering effects of the ELCA Fund for Leaders: a scholarship that opens doors, expands imagination, and helps scholars say \u201cyes\u201d to possibilities they might not otherwise have been able to choose. That theme echoes a line used to describe the Fund for Leaders impact: \u201cWe are a church that believes Jesus is God\u2019s \u2018yes\u2019 to us. Our lives can be a \u2018yes\u2019 to others.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Schutte, Belz-Brock, and Hinrichsen, the \u201cyes\u201d is both the practical covering of costs and the affirmation from the wider church that their gifts are seen, needed, and worth investing in.<\/p>\n<h2>Three scholarships, one mission: raising up leaders for the Church<\/h2>\n<p>The Fund for Leaders exists to raise up rostered leaders by providing scholarship support that makes seminary education more accessible\u2014and sustainable\u2014for students across seven ELCA seminaries. In anticipation of its 30th anniversary in 2027, the program continues to achieve record-breaking milestones. In the 2024\u201325 school year alone, the Fund for Leaders provided more than $3 million in support to 350 ELCA seminary students. Schutte, Belz-Brock, and Hinrichsen\u2014three of 36 current Luther Seminary Fund for Leaders scholars\u2014represent three unique scholarship pathways, each reflecting the church\u2019s diverse and changing needs.<\/p>\n<div style=\"border: solid 5px #6E6259; padding: 5px; margin-top: 25px;\"><strong>Direct Full-Tuition Scholarship<\/strong><br \/>\nThe ELCA Fund for Leaders awards scholarships to students seeking to become ELCA rostered ministers who have begun the candidacy process in their synod. The program, which awards scholarships for the duration of students\u2019 required seminary work, is open to new students enrolled in the upcoming fall semester or those who have completed no more than one semester. Luther Seminary awards an additional $750 stipend for every course covered by the Fund for Leaders scholarship.<\/div>\n<div style=\"border: solid 5px #6E6259; padding: 5px; margin-top: 25px;\"><strong>Mission Developer Scholarship<\/strong><br \/>\nThis scholarship is available, by invitation only, to current students, including Theological Education for Emerging Ministries candidates, who are identified and nominated by their seminary in coordination with their synod bishop and director for evangelical mission.<\/div>\n<div style=\"border: solid 5px #6E6259; padding: 5px; margin-top: 25px;\"><strong>Federal Chaplaincy Ministries Scholarship<\/strong><br \/>\nThis scholarship, awarded through ELCA Federal Chaplaincy Ministries, provides funding for students who are attending an ELCA seminary and preparing for ministry as a military, Veterans Affairs, or federal prison chaplain.<\/div>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2>Saying yes to connection: the community Fund for Leaders builds<\/h2>\n<p>Since the program\u2019s creation, over 1,100 qualified candidates have received more than $28 million in scholarship support. For these candidates, the Fund for Leaders is not merely a line item in a financial aid package. It is also a network of relationships\u2014 connections that stretch across classrooms, seminaries, synods, and vocational pathways, creating a wider sense of belonging within the ELCA. The Fund for Leaders also hosts online discernment groups, providing a nurturing environment for all participants to explore their vocational calling and engage in meaningful conversations about their faith and leadership potential.<\/p>\n<p>After receiving the Direct Full-Tuition Scholarship in 2020, Schutte recalls the online announcement ceremony that allowed him the opportunity to connect with other scholars and ask questions of then-Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton. At Luther, Schutte\u2019s connections continued through admissions call campaigns, linking prospective students with Fund for Leaders recipients. Practical conversations like these became a form of peer mentoring, offering the insight of a seminary experience within reach.<\/p>\n<p>Belz-Brock\u2019s story highlights another kind of connection: the power of being seen by someone who knows your gifts.<\/p>\n<p>Although she had heard about the Fund for Leaders while researching seminaries, she didn\u2019t pursue it at first. The turning point came during her first year at Luther when <strong>Terri Elton \u201998 M.A., \u201907 Ph.D.<\/strong>, dean of academic affairs and professor of leadership, nominated her for the Mission Developer Scholarship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was such an honor to get that email from her,\u201d Belz-Brock says. \u201cI was in her Christian public leader class, and I think it was right after we had submitted our midterm papers, where we interviewed people who were not part of Christian communities. I walked into a metaphysical gift shop and asked somebody if they\u2019d be willing to have a conversation about what they thought about God, Jesus, and church. That was a really cool experience, especially because I had gone to that shop before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hinrichsen says vocational conversation early on in her seminary journey is what dialed her into the Fund for Leaders\u2014specifically the Federal Chaplaincy Ministries Scholarship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019d had thoughts to myself and conversations with God over the years about being a chaplain. When the idea of chaplaincy was proposed, it was one of those moments where a question from the outside comes in, and all the pieces coalesce,\u201d Hinrichsen says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew before seminary that I wanted to work with veterans, so a federal chaplaincy role in the VA aligns perfectly with that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-8475 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-full'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"449\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/Aaron_Schutte_-10.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"A man standing at the pulpit preaching in robes\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-8478\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/Aaron_Schutte_-10.jpg 449w, https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/Aaron_Schutte_-10-300x267.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 449px) 100vw, 449px\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-8478'>\n\t\t\t\tAaron Schutte \u201926 M.Div.  brings his global vision of the church to life through his internship placement at Westwood Lutheran Church in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/image0.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-8479\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/image0.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/image0-225x300.jpeg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-8479'>\n\t\t\t\tAnna Belz-Brock \u201929 M.Div. demonstrates the essential nature of responding to the times, attending the Repent and Restore Rally at the Minnesota State Capitol. (Courtesy photo)\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/Joys-of-online-learning.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-8481\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/Joys-of-online-learning.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/Joys-of-online-learning-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-8481'>\n\t\t\t\tChelsey Hinrichsen \u201928 M.Div. has logged countless classroom hours from home, with her cat, Possum, serving as one of her biggest supporters. (Courtesy photo)\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<h2>Saying yes to leadership: a new and ever-changing definition<\/h2>\n<p>The Fund for Leaders helps students say \u201cyes\u201d to the kind of leadership the church is called to embody today. For the three scholars, this involves a careful combination of equipping others, using your voice, knowing what is most important, pursuing your passion, and recognizing your privilege.<\/p>\n<p>As a white male within the church, Schutte speaks candidly about how leadership is shaped by awareness of historical power while simultaneously finding opportunities to listen and amplify the voices of others. He says a critical part of this work is recognizing the richness of the global church, its diverse leaders, and its different rosters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor me, it\u2019s important to shift this vision of who is a leader in the church,\u201d he says. \u201cThinking about our youth, our elders, and the huge range of what the church is. Who can I continue to equip to be the next leaders? That\u2019s a beautiful thing about leadership within the church.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Belz-Brock\u2019s leadership language is shaped by urgency and complexity. She observes that church leadership is pulled in many directions: pastoral care, liturgy, and formation, to name a few. And although being a pastor has never been easy, she says it\u2019s become even more difficult over the past few years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne common thread for me has always been theology and faith bound up with justice and liberation,\u201d she explains. \u201cThere are a lot of Lutherans in Minnesota that are vocalizing to stand up for their neighbor. It\u2019s a really interesting time of immense change, and people are waking up to injustices that have been here the whole time. All over the board, responding to the times right now is essential.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hinrichsen defines leadership as using your voice, but she quickly expands what that means: not just speaking, but putting faith and values into action in ways that make the world better. She acknowledges a Midwest instinct to avoid \u201cruffling feathers,\u201d and she challenges it directly\u2014because complacency can create space for oppression to persist.<\/p>\n<p>Wanting to be seen as a person of action, Hinrichsen asks herself a series of questions when it comes to leadership within the church: Who\u2019s being held back? Where am I being moderate? Where am I being too silent? What is the church now, today? What is the need for the church, and how do we meet that need? What did the very first followers of Jesus do?<\/p>\n<p>For Hinrichsen, leadership is a balancing act of intention and personal passion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll of us are passionate about different things, and we can\u2019t fake that,\u201d she says. \u201cThe things that make your hands sweaty or make your ears perk up or make your heart beat fast. Not everything does that. So when it does happen, you listen and know that this is where you are called to act.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Saying yes to experience: how the Fund for Leaders funds more than an education<\/h2>\n<p>In the end, the most powerful \u201cyes\u201d that the Fund for Leaders scholarship enables is the simplest one: Yes, I can attend seminary. Yes, I can do this without drowning in debt. Yes, I can say yes to formation\u2014not just survival.<\/p>\n<p>Schutte puts it plainly: He would not have gone to seminary if it hadn\u2019t been for the combination of his Fund for Leaders scholarship and the Jubilee Scholarship. Together, those supports removed the financial barrier that so often determines who can pursue a call. Having earned the Direct Full-Tuition Scholarship, Schutte also has many of his practical needs accounted for, including books, food, transportation to campus, and assistance with housing. And when travel courses emerged, it has been a relief to know the majority of associated costs could be covered through Fund for Leaders support and the stipend he received from Luther\u2014making it easier to say yes to unique opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe coolest experience I had at Luther and through the ELCA was attending the Lutheran World Federation Assembly in Poland. Just meeting others and hearing about their experiences was one of the best cross-seminary experiences. I also went to Guatemala and Mexico with a course through Luther, learning about immigration. Going forward, I know that, through these opportunities, I have a deeper understanding and a broader view of what the church is and how to bring that global vision of the church forward,\u201d Schutte says.<\/p>\n<p>For Belz-Brock, the scholarship was not only financial\u2014it was an affirmation. Being nominated and accepted felt like \u201cthe church saying yes\u201d to her, recognizing her strengths and potential to form new and experimental communities. She also earned the freedom to learn without scrambling to add more sources of income, allowing her to go at her own pace and fully absorb her seminary education, rather than rushing through in order to start earning money. With the Jubilee Scholarship and Fund for Leaders support together, Belz-Brock describes a kind of breathing room that lets her stay immersed in coursework, continue the ministry work she\u2019s passionate about as a part-time children and youth minister, and remain available to her neighbors in a demanding moment in Minnesota\u2019s public life.<\/p>\n<p>Hinrichsen describes Fund for Leaders as both enabling and freeing, allowing her to live comfortably without having to spread herself too thin. Most strikingly, she doesn\u2019t have to work while in seminary\u2014meaning she can pour her whole self into formation. She says she fully dives into the work: making office hours appointments with professors multiple times a month, meeting up with classmates, and attending chapel online, among many other connection points that have added immense value to her seminary experience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been a beautiful gift, not just monetarily, but spiritually,\u201d she says. \u201cI have this philosophy that if you\u2019re doing God\u2019s work, the money shows up to make it happen. When I start to have doubts, something that I didn\u2019t even expect shows up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Fund for Leaders is not simply funding degrees. It is strengthening the church\u2019s capacity to love neighbors. It is enabling leaders-in-formation to say yes to study, yes to community, yes to global learning, yes to justice-focused ministry, yes to innovation, and yes to the long, patient work of equipping others.<\/p>\n<p>And because they can say yes, others will be able to say yes, too.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/issue\/summer-2026\/\">Read more from this issue of Story<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How ELCA Fund for Leaders scholarships empower Luther Seminary students<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8477,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8475","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"issue-summer-2026","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - 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