LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (May 21, 2025)—The Methodist Foundation for Arkansas has selected Grace Rogers and LaToya Shepherd as 2025 Seminary Scholars. The MFA Seminary Scholarships will cover the full tuition of the United Methodist seminaries at which they are enrolled.
Every MFA Seminary Scholarship recipient signs a covenant agreement committing to serve two years under appointment as a deacon or elder in the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church for each year of scholarship support received.
“I am excited that the Methodist Foundation for Arkansas is able to award two Seminary Scholarships to Grace Rogers and LaToya Shepherd, and I look forward to us being a partner with them on this journey,” said MFA President and CEO the Rev. J. Wayne Clark. “The Foundation is very blessed to be in a position that allows us to make such a significant investment in clergy, the local church, and the Annual Conference. This scholarship benefits so many, and it is only possible thanks to estate gifts from people who love and care for the church.”
Since the program’s inception, the Foundation has awarded more than 40 Seminary Scholarships to students attending one of the 13 U.S.-based United Methodist seminaries, with five full-time seminary students enrolled as Foundation scholarship recipients for the fall semester of 2025.
The Methodist Foundation for Arkansas Seminary Scholarships aim to strengthen Methodist churches in Arkansas by ensuring strong leadership in communities throughout the state. These scholarships enable some of the best and brightest students to answer God’s call and become clergy serving through local churches within Arkansas. Assisting these students is important and satisfying work, and MFA donors have responded generously in making these scholarships possible.
More information on this year’s scholarship recipients:
Grace Rogers
A native of Cabot, Arkansas, Grace Rogers earned her undergraduate degree from Hendrix College in Conway and is now preparing to enter her third year at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. She credits her time at Hendrix with giving her the language to name her calling to ordained ministry, and she is excited to return to the Arkansas Conference to seek ordination as an elder.
In addition to her experience at Hendrix, Rogers says Arkansas United Methodists in local churches have shaped her throughout her life, particularly through the communities of Cabot UMC and Pulaski Heights UMC in Little Rock. Rogers also spent two years serving as a Global Mission Fellow with the UMC in Miami, Florida, which confirmed her calling. Currently, she serves as a ministry intern at Mount Vernon Place UMC in downtown Washington, D.C., where she is learning and growing in her pastoral skills.
“I am so thankful for the generosity and trust the Methodist Foundation of Arkansas has placed in me that will allow me to continue to grow and serve the Church the best I can,” Rogers said. “Due to the generosity of the Foundation, I will be able to complete a residency period of Clinical Pastoral Education at the University of Georgetown Hospital this summer, and upon completion of this residency and ordination, I will be credentialed to serve as a Disaster Response Chaplain. This would not be possible without the support of the Foundation.”
LaToya Juanita Shepherd
Shepherd, a native of Detroit, Michigan, has been living and working in the Arkansas River Valley area for 18 years. She has three adult children, Christa (Jaivin), Rachel (Kiera), and Leonard (Mercie); three grandchildren, Jenesis, Edyn, and Leonard; and one spoiled dog, TJ. She loves to sing, write, shop for bargains, and serve in the community.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Family Life Education from Spring Arbor College in Jackson, Michigan, and currently attends Saint Paul School of Theology, which has campuses in Leawood, Kansas and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She is pursuing a Master of Divinity with a specialization in Women, Society and Church Studies. A licensed local pastor in the UMC since 2016, LaToya previously served in Van Buren at the former Heritage UMC and now serves Mission UMC in Fort Smith.
“I have been in ministry and serving the body of Christ for 28 years,” Shepherd said. “My formative years in Michigan gave me a solid foundation and affirmed my calling to ordained ministry. The Arkansas Conference of the UMC has given me the opportunity to serve in this pastoral calling while moving toward ordination and continually developing the gifts and graces I have been given for ministry. It is a blessing, and I am grateful to be able to complete my seminary education with the financial support and confidence of the Foundation.”
About the Methodist Foundation for Arkansas
With a mission to establish and manage charitable funds to strengthen and expand Methodist ministries across Arkansas, the Methodist Foundation for Arkansas manages over $220 million in endowment funds and other charitable assets that benefit local churches and other United Methodist ministries. Founded in 1963, the Foundation has grown into one of the largest United Methodist foundations in the country, managing more than 800 funds that support Methodist ministries.
