Olsen Scholarship at MLC Receives Special Gift
When St. Mark Lutheran Church in Brown Deer, Wisconsin, recently closed its doors, the members opened their hearts to Martin Luther College students.
Upon closing, the congregation distributed their assets among a handful of WELS ministries and schools, including a special gift to the Ted Olsen Early Childhood Education Scholarship Fund at MLC.
Rev. Ted Olsen (pictured) was the first pastor at St. Mark, serving there from 1966 to 1971. More than 30 years later, he became the first president of Martin Luther College, serving from 1995 to his retirement in 2007.
The Olsen Scholarship was established by his family after President Olsen received his crown of glory in 2015. It awards grants of $1,000 each to early childhood education majors who demonstrate financial need.
Early childhood education was a ministry dear to Ted’s heart, and he was instrumental in planning the Early Childhood Learning Center (ECLC) at MLC. Since it opened in 2013, our professors, teachers, and caregivers have nurtured hundreds of infants and small children and—importantly—told them about their Savior Jesus.
The ECLC has also served as a kind of lab school, where MLC students have prepared to become early childhood teachers and directors, learning research-based best practices that they take with them into the 360+ preschools and centers in the WELS. These frontline ministries outnumber Lutheran elementary schools in the WELS by a wide margin (362 to 284), and it’s here that many children and their families hear the gospel for the very first time.
As of 2023, the Ted Olsen Early Childhood Education Scholarship has been awarded to more than 25 early childhood majors. With this generous gift from St. Mark-Brown Deer, even more students will receive grants each year.
“We’re so grateful to the members of St. Mark’s for their generosity,” said MLC President Rich Gurgel. “Their gift honors President Olsen’s legacy and assists future servants of the gospel as they prepare for ministry at MLC.”
You Can Give to Any Scholarship Fund!
You can donate to the Ted Olsen Early Childhood Education Scholarship Fund or any other named scholarship at MLC.
