Mark and Kathleen Helge Endowed Scholarship Fund

The Rev. Mark and Kathy Helge Endowed Scholarship Fund was established in 2014 to support the theological education of international students at Luther Seminary. Mark and Kathy Helge met at Valparaiso University and began their courtship with a date that ended at the chapel on campus. After both Kathy and Mark had graduated from Valparaiso, Mark attended Concordia Seminary in St. Louis for two years and transferred to Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary where he graduated with a M.Div. in 1978. The Helges served the following parishes in Illinois: Zion, Walsh; Holy Trinity, Glenview; Messiah, Rockford; and Our Savior, Rockford. Mark retired in 2009 after 30 years in ministry. Kathy worked as a medical technologist for 25 years; taking several years off when their sons, Andrew and Joel, were small. Throughout their life together Mark and Kathy have supported mission work in Ethiopia, local ministries in the communities where they lived and projects at their alma maters. This scholarship provides full-tuition support for a deserving international student in any degree program at Luther Seminary.