The Joel W. & Margaret A. Prange Organ Endowed Scholarship was established in 2022.
Pastor Joel Prange graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 1966. He married Margaret (nee Mueller) that same year, and he was assigned to Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, a new mission congregation in Redding, California, which he served for his entire 40-year ministry.
In 1976 Mount Calvary established a Lutheran elementary school and began receiving teachers who had graduated from (Dr.) Martin Luther College. The congregation was especially appreciative of those teachers who could play the organ for worship.
Because the Pranges value excellence in worship, and because they want other congregations like Mount Calvary to have the blessing of competent organists, they established this scholarship for aspiring organists at MLC. “It is our prayer,” they said, “that this scholarship will assist MLC students in achieving that goal.”
Scholarship recipients will be organ students who demonstrate financial need. More specifically, the scholarship will be awarded to one sophomore, in any major, who has completed two semesters of organ instruction and is planning to continue with organ instruction. That student will continue to receive the scholarship each year, until graduation, as long as they are taking organ instruction. A piano student who pursues organ instruction can also be eligible.
