An endowment fund and a national recognition of the problem (of seminarian debt) would send a message to young people and minorities that the Church wants them.

Financing seminary is a huge barrier for a lot of people considering whether or not they can attend seminary. I was shocked when I had to go to the bookstore my first semester and paid over $700 for books. I suddenly realized that so many people just couldn’t even consider coming to a place like this because they just don’t have the wherewithal. They may even have other responsibilities besides themselves—family and children.

Last year a very good friend of mine dropped out after completing her first year. She said the thought of having to pay back these loans just caused her so much anxiety that she decided that she couldn’t put herself and her family through it. This was a woman who, I thought, was a tremendous gift to the church and who had a fantastic future in ministry. I was saddened for her personally and for the church as well.

I was shocked to learn from Roman Catholic friends that they are taken care of in a way that we’re not. What’s expected is that you have the wherewithal to do this. The present process assumes you have the resources, which means that it cuts off a whole group of people who don’t.

An endowment fund and a national recognition of the problem would send a message to young people and minorities that the church wants them. The message that now exists is that the church only wants a certain group of people: those who have the financial means to do it or from a certain social and economic stratum. Setting up an endowment becomes an outreach effort to others who are not represented currently in the church: those who are at the margin of our church. It sends a message that they too are wanted to come to the table of priesthood.