Karen Chrisley Scholarship
Enon UMC is honored to administer the Rev. Dr. Karen T. Chrisley Scholarship Fund which provides at least two $500 college scholarships per year for local students. Scholarships are awarded to selected college students who have completed at least one quarter or semester of college studies. Scholarship applications are accepted in September every year and are awarded in November. To apply, scroll down to complete the application when it is posted in September.
Karen Teresa Moody Chrisley was born to Welby Moody and Kathryn Matheney Moody on October 22, 1940, and she died June 20, 2007. Karen was ordained in the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1975. Lt Col Chrisley proudly served as a USAF Chaplain for 21 years. She was the third woman of the UMC to enter the USAF Chaplaincy Program and the first female Chaplain to be a member of an observation flying crew. To quote from one of her published articles, a typical week for her during her Air Force years might include “counseling members who are on assignment in another country, working with a couple with marital difficulties, going through chemical warfare training to prepare to serve beside parirsh members, visiting various squadrons on the flight line, or getting her license to drive an armored personnel carrier.”
After her military retirement, she served as Rev. Dr. Chrisley for the West Ohio Conference of the UMC for 30 years. She believed that women should be assisted in their desire to educate themselves beyond high school. When she passed away, and in accordance with her wishes, her husband and Enon UMC member, Rev. David W. Yingling, established a scholarship fund program in her memory at St. Mark UMC in Springfield, where he served as pastor. When the scholarship fund was established in 2007, the document stated: “In the event that St. Mark UMC should ever fail to continue as a church, the scholarship funds should be transferred to Enon UMC since it was the home church of Rev. Karen Chrisley and is to be administered in the same manner as St. Mark was to administer the funds.” St. Mark UMC unfortunately closed its doors in 2020, and the fund was transferred to the care of Enon UMC.
Scholarships are awarded annually and are not renewable. The scholarship program is managed under the auspices of the Enon UMC Karen Chrisley Scholarship Fund Committee. The number of scholarships awarded each year is determined by the committee and may vary depending on available funds. Donations for the scholarship fund are appreciated–please note on checks or envelopes that donations are specifically for the Karen Chrisley Scholarship Fund. Learn more about the governance of this scholarship.
2023 Scholarship Recipients, from left to right: Pastor Heather Hustead; Cody Wooten, The Ohio State University, Aerospace Engineering; Calleia Lively, University of Toledo, Nursing; Luke Glaze, The Ohio State University, Computer Science and Engineering
2022 Scholarship Recipients, from left to right: Gabbi Barrera, Cedarville University, Middle Childhood Education; Pastor Heather Husted; Avory Mayenschein, Ohio Northern, Marketing and Studio Arts
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Enon UMC is part of the Western Lakes District of the West Ohio Conference of the UMC
Page current as of 3/6/2024