Reminder: Important Shepherd’s Fund Updates
An Important Update on The Shepherd’s Fund Grant Guidelines
For many years, The Shepherd’s Fund has been a profound blessing to our retired alumni and their spouses, offering compassionate financial support during seasons of medical need and significant life transitions. Through their extraordinary generosity, hundreds of families have received tangible care, dignity, and hope.
We are deeply grateful to the Foundation, the generous anonymous donor and his team for their faithful stewardship, prayerful discernment, and unwavering commitment to serving those who have spent their lives serving the Church.
As the number of grant applications has grown, the Foundation has carefully and prayerfully reviewed how to steward these resources so that they remain sustainable, equitable, and available to as many eligible families as possible, both now and in the years to come. As a result, updated grant guidelines are now in effect.
Updated Shepherd’s Fund Grant Guidelines
Effective immediately:
- Retired clergy and/or surviving spouses may apply for one fully vetted and receipted grant per year.
- Individuals may apply for grants for a maximum of three years, with a maximum grant of $10,000 per year.
- The total lifetime maximum grant amount is $25,000 per individual.
- Those who have already received a total of $25,000 in Shepherd’s Fund grants are no longer eligible to reapply.
These updated guidelines are intended to provide clarity, ensure fairness, and preserve the original mission of The Shepherd’s Fund, to be a blessing to retired Christian clergy and their surviving spouses facing legitimate medical and major life-stage expenses.
Our Deep Gratitude
We want our alumni to know how grateful we are for the Foundation’s ongoing generosity and partnership. Their faithful giving has changed lives, lifted burdens, and brought hope to many within the Asbury family. These updated guidelines are not a reduction in compassion, but rather a careful commitment to stewardship—ensuring that help remains available for those who will need it in the future.
We remain deeply thankful for this partnership and for the countless ways The Shepherd’s Fund continues to embody Christ’s care for those who have given their lives in faithful service.
How do I apply to the Shepherd’s Fund?
Strange! I had heard the fund was seeking more people to help. Big change.
Hello Dr. Snyder. These changes were implemented at the discretion of the donor. Asbury Seminary has no control over the funding. We merely help find the alums/spouses who might need the funding.