Giving FAQ’s

Why give to The School of Theology Annual Fund?

Tuition, fees, and endowment income don't cover the total cost of running the seminary. Your gift ensures that The School of Theology will:

• continue its commitment to need-based financial aid
• maintain and update the divinity section of the Jessie Ball duPont Library
• purchase needed materials and technologies for seminary faculty and students
• maintain classrooms in Hamilton Hall and worship space in the Chapel of the Apostles
• afford adequate salaries for its dedicated faculty and staff

When should I make a gift?

As in most academic institutions, Sewanee’s fiscal year starts July 1 and ends June 30, and is not based on the tax or calendar year. You may also set up a sustaining pledge, and we will only send you reminders each year until you tell us otherwise.

Can I make a gift in honor or in memory of someone?

Yes! You can make an annual fund gift in honor or in memory of anyone you like. The person or family of the person honored/memorialized will receive notification of your gift (excluding the amount). Your gift will also be listed In the annual donor recognition report.

How can my small gift make a difference?

Every gift, large or small, has an impact. Every dollar contributed to the annual fund helps the seminary meet its daily needs. Your gift, viewed as a vote of confidence, could help Sewanee secure thousands of dollars in funding.

How can I make sure my gift will go to The School of Theology?

If you make your gift online, you will find four options for the designation of your gift towards the end of the form. Click on the  one for “Sewanee Annual Fund – Theology.” If you are sending in a check, please write “ Sewanee Annual Fund – Theology” in the memo section of your check.

Questions? Contact Sukey Byerly, Development Officer for The School of Theology, either by email on by phone at 931.598.1217.
 

 

Alumni/ae Annual Fund Giving Participation up 3%

Alumni/ae giving to The School of Theology is up 3% from 2012 and 7% from 2011, with donor participation at 27% and dollars raised $357,318 ($63,134 towards the annual fund). For the participation goal by June 30 of 35%, 101 donors are needed. To make a gift now and help Sewanee acheive a record fundraising year, click here, or mail a check to Sukey Byerly, associate director, alumni/ae and advancement, The School of Theology, 335 Tennessee Avenue, Sewanee, TN, 37383. Questions? Email Sukey Byerly or call at 931.598.1217.
 

Theological Education Sunday

Theological Education Sunday (TES) is a program of the Episcopal Church and is offically recognized on the first Sunday in February.

 

Letter From a Class Steward  
The Rev. King Oehmig, T'77

Friends and fellow alums of The School of Theology,

I am not very good at arm-twisting. I never could squeeze a rock hard enough to get blood out of it. I tire very easily at trying to cajole the reluctant, to arouse the faint-hearted, and to motivate the obdurate. That said, I will make my appeal to you to give to The School of Theology pithy and to the point.

Where else in this voyage to ordination and ministry can other seminarians come near claiming that glorious time shared together on the Holy Mount? Who else sat at the feet of St. Terry the Theologian and discussed such mysteries as the "anti-structure" and what it means to be a "liminal person" in ministry? Where else could one have a Bill Griffin unveil the Pentateuch in a way that hurls out the last remnant of fundamentalism? Where else could one have learned from an esteemed exegete such as Dr. Rhys the strange sequence of chapter arrangement in the Fourth Gospel — all due to the clumsiness of a Pilipino house boy who worked for St. John in Ephesus? Where else could you be confronted with homosexuality in the natural world except through the pesky insistence of Jack Gessell? Where else could you learn about all the corrupt popes and the sainthood of Luther than from Dr. Armentrout? How could one obtain a more critical perspective on the 1928 Book of Common Prayer than by sitting at the feet of Marion Hatchett as he worked a two-inch ash on his 100-millimeter cigarette while sitting on a piano bench? I could go could on and on, and might add the stories of current alumni/ae who are blessed to be studying with the new “greats.” But that’s another story, another letter, by another graduate looking back.

Let's face it, every alum, no matter what era, has been richly blessed because of Sewanee. And we need to give back. Dig deep. Your alma mater needs you like never before. Lay up some treasure in heaven!!

Blessings,

King Oehmig, T77