Episcopal Church Women Announce
2012 Scholarship Recipients
by Elizabeth S. Madden, Chair, ECW Scholarship Committee
What a joy it is to announce the names of this year’s ECW Scholarship recipients. These young scholars embody our pride, excitement, and confidence in the future of our beloved Episcopal Church. Grace Bethell, Marie Peeples, and Katherine Satterfield have been living their faith while serving their parishes, their schools, and their communities through impressive projects.
Grace Bethell, a recent graduate of St. Mary’s Episcopal School, is a communicant of Calvary Church, Memphis. Grace has filled many functions at Calvary, including seven years as an acolyte and lector. Now she is a Eucharistic Minister as well. Grace has worked in the diocese too, especially as Rector for Happening #50. The Diocesan Youth Council has benefited from Grace’s leadership in diocesan-wide youth events for middle school and high school students. She has completed five mission trips to Honduras, focusing on vacation Bible school, an arts camp, and the medical needs of the poor children at the LAMB Institute there. She gladly volunteered to help rebuild a ruined home in New Orleans. Her priest at Calvary describes Grace as “beyond superlatives…a credit to her diocese and the Episcopal Church.”
Grace will attend University of Alabama, where she has been accepted into the Honors College. She plans to pursue pre-med studies and/or a career in nursing. Her long-term goal is to “come out of college as a confident student, ready to face anything in my life.” Grace feels “a true call to keep going back to Honduras to serve,” and her compassionate heart may just lead her there.
Marie Peeples attends St. John’s, Memphis, where her youth minister describes her as “a shining star in our Church.” An outstanding student at St. Mary’s Episcopal School, Marie was Valedictorian of her class. She aspires to earn a double major in English and either Physics or Chemistry at Northwestern University. Marie says, “I fully intend to maintain my dedication to my faith throughout the course of my college experience.” She looks forward to joining the Episcopal community in Chicago.
Marie’s service to St. John’s and to our diocese includes positions in five Happenings; she has been Caritas Deacon, Celebration Staff Coordinator, and Head Deacon. She has been active on the Diocesan Youth Council. At St. John’s Marie became an acolyte at age twelve, and last year she was invited by Fr. John Sewell to become a verger, a rare responsibility for a high school student. Marie says, “I am extremely grateful for the continuing opportunities that I have been given to serve my church.”
For Katherine Satterfield, the highlight of her spiritual quest has been accompanying the Journey to Adulthood class at Church of the Holy Communion on their Pilgrimage to Greece. Tracing the footsteps of St. Paul, she felt connected to her fellow pilgrims in many meaningful ways. She has served as acolyte, worked at St. Columba 's Episcopal Day Camp, participated in More-Than-A-Meal, attended retreats, pitched in on the Diocesan Youth Council, and staffed multiple Happenings. Now she sees herself “as that older person all the younger kids look up to…. Now I am sad to have to leave as my senior year is ending.”
An honor student at White Station High School, Katherine's social studies teacher describes her as “exactly the type of student with whom every teacher wants to work, particularly due to her maturity, inherent curiosity, and consistency of character.” At DePaul University she will study in the College of Health and Sciences. She plans to enter dental school after college. Her friends describe her as “wise, helpful, and faithful,” and it seems clear that she will continue to influence the lives of those around her for the better.
These fine young Episcopalians exemplify the best of our youth; each one is a credit to her faith, her family, and our community.