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"To find suitable persons for the Episcopal ministry and
aid them in acquiring a thorough education"
SIM's founding purpose on October 2, 1857;
our ministry ever since.
SIMministry is "our" seminarians.
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Questioning Our Assumptions
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 Greetings!
December 6th, the feast day of Saint Nicholas. Because of the many miracles attributed to Nicholas, Bishop of Myra (part of modern-day Turkey), he was a popular 4th-century saint. His primary reputation was for his secret gift-putting coins in the shoes of children who left them out for him. The American Santa Claus, as well as the Anglo-Canadian and British Father Christmas, derive from these legends.
The Church was somewhat of a St. Nicholas for me when I was a General Theological Seminary student in the 1950s. Funding my theological education required minimal "out-of-pocket" expenditures on my part, as Church coins were left in my shoes from my diocese, parish and seminary.
While that is no longer true today, many Episcopalians assume "the Church" somehow takes care of the costs of educating their future ordained leaders. This wrong assumption can easily undermine attracting the future ordained leadership the Church needs for the 21st century.
SIM invests in future ordained leaders to serve our Church. In 2010, to help uncover subtle assumptions in planning for the Church's future, the Church Pension Group (CPG) in cooperation with SIM surveyed seminarians about the financing activities of those graduating in 2011 from Episcopal seminaries. The survey revealed factors for addressing the financial needs of graduating Episcopal seminarians.
Sadly, our results show that many mortgage their future (33% liquidated retirement accounts, pensions and life insurance) to fund their seminary education.
What types of assets do students liquidate
to fund their seminary education?
Funding theological education is critical to the future leadership of the Church. SIM has been a constant and consistent funding resource for seminarians for 154 years. In this season of giving, please consider our future ordained leaders and a contribution to SIM. SIM is the only organization raising funds on a national basis for the support of Episcopal seminarians.
Please forward my appeal to your Episcopal friends and network.
Have a Holy Christmas, Rev. Dr. Richard F. Tombaugh
Chairman
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