GBHEM Scholarship, Life Experiences Help Butler-Cefalo Answer God’s Call

Abby Butler-Cefalo‘s calling into ministry is becoming a reality thanks to the support of the GBHEM Special Seminary Scholarship. “As someone who had grown up homeless…I would not be able to attend seminary without this financial support,” Butler-Cefalo said.

“I am a first-generation college student, so for a long time, graduate school was just not an option for me,” she said. “I am so thankful for the opportunity to continue my education, and I could not do it without your gracious support.”

From homelessness to adoption by a loving family and now pursuing a Master of Divinity at Wesley Theological Seminary, Butler-Cefalo is breaking “generational curses and our cycle of poverty.” She is committed to helping others do the same.

She first explored the Christian faith through the Arise Campus Ministry at George Mason University. “I didn’t know the Lord’s Prayer. I didn’t even know what prayer is. I didn’t know any songs.” Yet, the warm response she received from Campus Chaplain the Rev. Drew Ensz and others allayed her fears.

“The spark of God’s calling in Abby’s life was evident in her passion to meet new people and share community and love with them. She made people feel the love of Christ, especially those who had been hurt, forgotten, and traumatized by the Church universal,” Ensz said.

“For me and so many others at Arise Campus Ministry, it was an honor to give space, resources, and time to allow Abby to discern that God was calling her into ministry,” Ensz said. “We did very little but instead were honored to see God work through her, and she responded to that call in amazing ways while she was at Arise and George Mason University.”

From those first days at campus ministry to her first year of seminary, Butler-Cefalo and her family see the profound impact that The United Methodist Church can have personally and vocationally. The Special Seminary Scholarship assists students like Butler-Cefalo pursue ministry as a vocation when they are certified candidates age 30 or under and enrolled in a United Methodist-related seminary with a minimum 3.0 GPA.

GBHEM Scholarship recipient, Abby Butler-Cefalo, preaches at Mount Vernon United Methodist Church.

Butler-Cefalo says, “I think one thing that really has been impactful in receiving scholarships and funding for school is having the ability to know that this is not where my story stops.”

Breaking down those barriers is her passion. In ministry, she wants to “showcase the true love of God, which is an open arms, open-bodied love. All are welcome. It does not matter how much or how little experience you have.

“I think of the people who want to come in the doors but are afraid because they don’t know where the unassigned seats are. They don’t know who sits where. They don’t know what the liturgy is,” Butler-Cefalo said. “They don’t know what the Lord’s Prayer is. Once we become part of the church, all of these things are like second nature to us. We are accidentally and unintentionally becoming an insular space.”

Each year, GBHEM offers an average of $4 million in scholarships to help students in the United States and abroad pursue their dreams through higher education. With this financial aid, GBHEM is opening pathways for students of all backgrounds to earn degrees and serve as the next generation of leaders for the church and the world.

The Rev. Neelley Hicks is a freelance writer for Higher Education and Ministry, Global Ministries and UMCOR.