DHM scholarships

Rowley Memorial Scholarship Fund

Background information on this DHM Scholarship

What is now the Rowley Memorial Scholarship Fund was initially started in 1974 with a beginning investment of $3,500 by Mrs. Ethel Johnson Rowley and her husband, Mr. Prescott Thresher Rowley, of Sacramento, Calif.
With their first gift, the Rowleys established a revocable Trust Fund with the United Christian Missionary Society (UCMS) of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Through the next several years, Mr. and Mrs. Rowley continued to invest additional money as they were able, to build this fund toward their goal of creating a perpetual ministerial scholarship. 

By 1978, at the ages of 77 and 76 years, respectively, Mrs. And Mr. Rowley had donated more than $60,000 for the Rowley Ministerial Scholarship Fund. Now living in a single-wide mobile home in a mobile home park, and driving a 10-year-old car they began to look forward to further increasing this scholarship fund. 

While a vision for this fund began to take deeper root as their primary call to ministry in these later years of their life, Mrs. Rowley noted, “We hope this helps many young people to enter Christian Service.” Each year they would plan their financial lives with care and continue to actively endow this scholarship fund. By 1981, the fund grew to $90,000. In early 1988, the total fund exceeded $130,000 and Mrs. Rowley, now 86 years young, honed her vision for what this scholarship fund could ultimately become. Her personal goal was to increase this fund to a half million dollars by the time of her death.

Since Mr. Rowley died in late 1983 and Mrs. Rowley’s health was in decline, she committed most of the rest of her estate to this adventurous goal  just after her 87th birthday in late 1988. With this commitment of her estate, the potential resources for this fund were estimated to be $450,000. At that time, in a letter to UCMS staff, she mentioned doubting that she would achieve the final $50,000 needed to bring the fund up to her ultimate goal of half a million dollars. However, she also asked for UCMS to continue sending her a report each year on the activity and growth in her investments in this fund, and she donated another $10,000 at this time! Mrs. Ethel Rowley died in December, 1988. After her estate was settled, it turned out that the Rowley scholarship fund was endowed with over $506,000. With God’s help, Mrs. Rowley had, indeed, achieved her goal!

As of 2007, the Rowley Memorial Scholarship has grown to over $820,000 of endowed funds. Through a legacy of one couple’s lifelong faithfulness, Disciples Home Missions is now able to offer more than 18 $2,000 scholarships each year to graduate ministerial students who intend to serve in congregational settings after seminary. Now, with each realized Call into pastoral ministry of a Rowley Scholarship recipient, the generous and faithful legacy of Mr. and Mrs. Rowley continues to live on, changing lives, transforming congregations for greater mission, and giving ongoing service and empowerment to the ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) across North America.