The Silas Lawrence Gerling Scholarship

The Silas Lawrence Gerling Scholarship was established in 2023 by Norman and Betty Stellick, the great-grandparents of Silas.

Silas is the son of Stephen Gerling and Hannah (Stellick) Gerling. Stephen and Hannah first met in Taichung, Taiwan, and some years later they reconnected and were married. At the time, Steve was working in the restaurant business, and Hannah was teaching at Divine Savior Academy in Doral, Florida, filling a call she had accepted after graduating from Wisconsin Lutheran College.

God led the couple to decide that Stephen would pursue preseminary training as a second-career student at Martin Luther College. They moved to New Ulm in the summer of 2020. Stephen began working and attending class at MLC, and Hannah began teaching in Mankato. Their first child, Sofia, was born in February 2021.

In 2022, they learned they were expecting a second child. As the pregnancy progressed, doctors informed the couple of their concerns about the child’s ability to sustain life after birth due to congenital malformations. The family offered many prayers, and God answered those prayers on October 27, 2022, when Silas Lawrence Gerling was born. Silas received the sacrament of Holy Baptism, and four hours later God took him from this earth to be with himself for all eternity.

Hannah and Stephen were so thankful to God for the hours they had with Silas and the assurance of his eternal salvation received through baptism. They took strength from the promises of our Lord in Isaiah 25:8: “He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces . . . The Lord has spoken.”

This scholarship is in honor of little Silas and in gratitude to our Savior God, who took Silas home to be with himself and who promises eternal life to all who believe. As other second-career men move their families to New Ulm to pursue preseminary training at MLC, the great-grandparents and the entire family hope this scholarship will provide both encouragement and financial support.

Scholarship recipients are primarily second-career students who are pursuing preseminary training at MLC and who demonstrate financial need. If no students qualify in a given year, the scholarship may be given to second-career teaching ministry students or traditional students in the preseminary program.