BGU Scholarships
In 2012 we were pleased to award scholarships through the Bakke Graduate University (BGU) for the advanced studies of 39 ministry practitioners totaling $121,375. These talented men and women come from, and serve in, a variety of urban centers around the world where they are actively responding to God's calling in ministry.
This was our final year of this program. Our BGU Scholarship initiative was an evolution and expansion of a previous scholarship initiative – the RJB Urban Ministry Award. Beginning in 1995, the Foundation provided scholarship funds to doctoral students studying under Dr. Raymond J. Bakke at Eastern Baptist Seminary. The RJB Award was suspended briefly from 2001 to 2002 until Ray began teaching again at Northwest Graduate School. In 2005, the school was renamed Bakke Graduate University (BGU). Beginning in 2006, the initiative was expanded to support an increasing number of students in scholarships named after Ray and his three younger siblings – Mrs. Marilyn Bakke Pearson, Mr. Dennis Bakke, and Dr. Lowell Bakke – who have contributed significantly to the ministry of the Mustard Seed Foundation and formation of Bakke Graduate University.
Since the Mustard Seed Foundation began providing scholarships to students at BGU in 2006, we have invested over $1.25 million in scholarship support. These scholarships focused on encouraging ministry practitioners to obtain advanced degrees to deepen the theological basis of their work and ministry. Most of those supported are pursuing the Doctorate of Ministry (DMin) degree in Transformational Leadership for the Global City that is offered through BGU on a non-residential, modular basis. The Foundation also supported a handful of students pursuing a Master of Arts in Social and Civic Entrepreneurship (MASCE), a Master of Arts in Global Urban Leadership (MAGUL), Master of Business Administration (MBA), or Doctor of Transformational Leadership (DTL). After supporting hundreds of ministry practitioners to continue their education, the Foundation has discontinued this program to prioritize our limited funding into other giving areas.