Contact: Kerry Traubert

(404) 727-1170
ktraubert@thefund.org

The Fund for Theological Education

Appoints New Trustees
Four Distinguished Church and Education Leaders Join FTE Board

ATLANTA, December 14, 2009 – The Fund for Theological Education (FTE) today
announced four new appointments to its Board of Trustees, elected by the Association of
Theological Schools (ATS). The new FTE trustees are Dr. Daniel O. Aleshire, the Very Rev.
Samuel G. Candler, Ms. Kita McVay and the Rev. Dr. Frederick Jerome Streets.
Each will serve a three-year term, advancing FTE’s mission to support a new generation
of gifted and diverse young leaders for vocations in pastoral ministry and theological
scholarship. The Fund annually awards more than $1.5 million in fellowships and leadership
development opportunities to talented undergraduate, seminary and doctoral students.
“The cause of quality leadership in ministry and theological education needs champions
who understand what’s at stake for the church and its mission in the world,” said Dr. Trace
Haythorn, FTE president. “The guidance of these experienced and faithful leaders will help FTE
chart its course in serving future pastors, those who teach them and the congregations that call
them.”
Daniel Aleshire is executive director of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), a
membership organization of more than 250 graduate schools in the United States and Canada.
ATS conducts post-baccalaureate professional and academic degree programs to educate
persons for the practice of ministry and for teaching and research in the theological disciplines.
Aleshire, an ordained minister, educator and author, was elected executive director of ATS in
1998. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Belmont College, the M.Div. degree from The
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in psychology from
George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville.
Samuel Candler is dean of the Cathedral of St. Philip in the Episcopal Diocese of
Atlanta, where he has served since 1998. Prior to his call to lead St. Philip’s he was dean of
Trinity Cathedral in Columbia, S.C., where he was a member of the Governor’s Commission on
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Race Relations. Candler has also served pastorates in Marietta and Cumming, Georgia, and in
Summerville, South Carolina. He received his bachelor’s degree from Occidental College in Los
Angeles, and graduated magna cum laude from Yale University Divinity School and Berkeley
Divinity School at Yale, its Episcopal counterpart. Candler authors a commentary, “Good Faith
and the Common Good,” (www.goodfaithandthecommongood) and writes for Episcopal Café.
Kita McVay is president emerita of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities in
New Brighton, Minn., a seminary of the United Church of Christ. She also served on United's
board for 18 years and chaired the board for five years. McVay is a director and officer of
Minnwest Corporation, a bank holding company that operates community banks in Minnesota
and South Dakota. As a member of Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis,
she has chaired a wide variety of church committees and has taught Sunday school for over 20
years. She is a director of the McVay Foundation and is a trustee of Hamline University. McVay
received her bachelor’s degree from Barnard College of Columbia University and holds a
master's degree and a doctor of divinity degree from United Theological Seminary.
Jerry Streets served as chaplain of Yale University and as senior pastor of Yale
University Church for 15 years. The first African-American and the first Baptist minister to serve
in Yale’s chaplaincy, Streets—the Carl and Dorothy Bennett Professor in Pastoral Counseling at
the Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University in New York City—is also an adjunct
faculty member at Yale Divinity School. Previously, Streets led an urban congregation as senior
pastor of Mount Aery Baptist Church in Bridgeport, Conn., where he and the congregation built a
new church facility and developed new outreach programs addressing the mission of the church
in an urban context, largely focusing on affordable housing, mentoring for at-risk youth, services
for the elderly and low-income residents, and interfaith dialogue.
FTE is a leading ecumenical advocate for excellence and diversity in pastoral ministry
and theological scholarship. It supports the next generation of leaders among pastors and
scholars, providing fellowships and a network of support for gifted young people from all
denominations and racial/ethnic backgrounds.
The Fund is also a resource for educational and faith communities, offering programs
that encourage highly capable candidates to explore vocations in ministry and teaching. Since
1954, FTE has awarded nearly 6,000 fellowships to advance quality leadership for the church.
For more information, visit www.thefund.org.

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