Graduation season has a way of shining a spotlight on individual achievement. And that’s good for the most part. Afterall, the graduates and scholarship recipients we know have studied hard, shown up faithfully, overcome challenges, made sacrifices, and taken meaningful steps toward the lives they are building. They deserve to be celebrated. But one of the gifts of being the church is that we also know a deeper truth: none of us are self-made.
Every one of us becomes who we are through the people who love us, teach us, challenge us, forgive us, encourage us, pray for us, and make room for us while we are still figuring things out. We are formed by families, teachers, mentors, coaches, friends, neighbors, and faith communities. We are shaped by those who notice gifts in us before we know how to name them for ourselves.
That is part of what makes Scholarship Sunday such a meaningful day in the life of the United Methodist Church of Geneva. Through our scholarship program, UMCG has the privilege of supporting students as they continue their education, discern their vocation, and step into the next season of life. These scholarships are financial gifts, of course, and that matters. College, trade school, graduate study, and professional training all require real resources. Every scholarship helps. But our scholarships are more than financial assistance. They are one way this congregation says to young people, “We see you. We believe in you. We are proud of you. Your future matters to us.” That is no small thing.
This year, we are especially grateful to celebrate both our newest scholarship recipients and those who are renewing their scholarships as they continue their studies. Their fields of study, career goals, and next steps are beautifully varied, but together they remind us that God’s work through this congregation does not stop at our doors. It moves outward into classrooms, campuses, laboratories, hospitals, studios, service organizations, workplaces, and communities we may never see.
I hope you will take a few minutes to watch the video above and hear directly from some of our renewing scholarship recipients. Listen for where they are headed next. Listen for their gratitude. Listen for their sense of purpose. And listen, too, for the quiet witness of this church’s faithfulness. Because when we support students, we are doing more than writing checks. We are participating in formation. We are helping young adults step toward lives of service, creativity, leadership, care, and contribution. We are investing in people who will care for neighbors, solve problems, protect creation, build communities, teach children, heal bodies, design systems, ask better questions, and bring compassion into the world. That is deeply connected to who we are at UMCG.
We often talk about our life together through the lens of People, Planet, and Purpose. Our scholarship recipients embody all three. They are people shaped by belonging and encouragement. They are preparing to serve a world and planet that need wise, compassionate, faithful leaders. And they are discerning purpose, not as a private possession, but as a gift to be shared.
This Sunday in worship, we will continue that celebration in a special way. During the sermon, “There Is No ‘I’ in Body,” we will hear video testimony from three of our newest scholarship award winners: Teresa, Gretchen, and Maddie. Their stories help us see how God works through families, mentors, mission partners, youth ministry, creation care, service opportunities, and the whole body of Christ to shape young people for the sake of the world.
I hope you will join us this Sunday, either in person or online, as we celebrate our graduates, honor our scholarship recipients, and give thanks for the God who forms us together.
As your pastor, I am deeply proud. Proud of these students. Proud of their courage, faithfulness, curiosity, and hope. Proud of the families, teachers, mentors, and church members who have helped shape them. Proud of a congregation that continues to invest in the next generation not only with money, but with prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness.
None of us are self-made. And thank God for that. Because when the body of Christ is at its best, we do not simply watch young people become who they are. We help them become. We bless them as they go. And then we trust that through them, God’s grace will keep moving into the world.
