SAN ANTONIO, Texas, United States, November 12, 2026. The Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation has awarded Fletcher Seminary a $60,000 grant for its 2027 grant cycle, twice the amount of last year’s award and the next chapter in a partnership that helped launch the seminary.
The grant arrives as Fletcher enters its fifth year with growing enrollment. It will keep courses running each term, expand student scholarships, support adjunct faculty compensation, strengthen the seminary’s communications and fundraising, and give every student access to an online library research system.
“The Baugh Foundation has been part of the Fletcher story from the very beginning,” said Dr. Dan Stiver, president of Fletcher Seminary. “This award tells us the Foundation sees what we see: ministers and lay leaders who might never have found a path to seminary are being prepared to serve, and they deserve a school that opens its doors wide. To everyone at the Baugh Foundation, thank you.”
The Foundation’s early seed grant of $75,000 helped launch Fletcher as a freestanding graduate school. Last year’s $30,000 grant, combined with other gifts, supported a year of growth: Fletcher expanded its board and staff by 30 percent, celebrated its first graduation ceremony for its first two master’s graduates and saw the completion of a cohort for a new coaching certificate.
The Baugh Foundation gives priority to organizations that are openly welcoming and affirming of all people, a conviction at the heart of Fletcher’s work. Fletcher is an ecumenical school, fully open and affirming of women and LGBTQ people, with courses offered entirely online at times
that fit the lives of working clergy, bivocational ministers and lay leaders. Most students work full time, and scholarships make seminary possible for many of them. In summer 2026, 13 of Fletcher’s 18 students received scholarship support totaling $9151.
“We are grateful to the Baugh Foundation, and to every donor, church and friend who has invested in this work,” Stiver said. “Gifts go a long way at Fletcher, and this one will be felt in every course we offer.”
About Fletcher Seminary
Jesse C. Fletcher Seminary, known as Fletcher Seminary, is an ecumenical theological school committed to full inclusion in ministry, fully open and affirming of women and LGBTQ people. Fletcher provides transformative graduate-level and certificate level theological education that equips students for ministry in diverse contexts. With a commitment to excellence, accessibility and community, Fletcher prepares leaders to serve the church and the world with wisdom, compassion and integrity. Programs are offered fully online, with faculty and students across multiple time zones and continents.
About The Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation
The Baugh Foundation supports progressive, inclusive, nonprofit organizations that reflect the love of Christ by providing assistance to those in need, enriching the lives of children and youth, keeping faith communities informed and engaged, and guarding the wall of separation between church and state.
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Why Fletcher Seminary is LGBTQ Affirming
Affirming LGBTQ individuals is consistent with the core values of Christianity, including love, compassion, inclusion, justice, and respect for human dignity and rights. It is an important step towards creating a more just, equitable, and inclusive Church and society.