Procedure of the LWF scholarships application and approval process

• August: Kick-off of the application phase. The information about the new application phase including updated application documents are sent to all LWF member churches and LWF national committees, and are shared across the LWF networks and channels. All church leaders are requested to share the information widely within their churches and wider communities, including the grassroots level.

At this point the LWF Scholarship online portal link is only shared with member churches (church leadership), it should not be shared widely.

• August-October: Pre-screening processes in the churches. Each church or LWF national committee is supposed to do a pre-screening of all individual and group applications through its internal committee or board. At the end of this process, each church selects up to 7 candidates (5 for regular and 2 for short-term scholarships) and shares the LWF Scholarship portal link with them.

• August-October: Submission of applications. The candidate will fill out the LWF online application form and submit the application with required documents.

• September-October: Request to endorsing churches to review application. After LWF has received the submitted application, the request is sent to the endorsing church for review, using the LWF online portal. The official church endorsement letter must be uploaded onto the review form.

• 15 October: Deadline for applications

• October-November: Geneva screening process. LWF Geneva reviews, pre-screens and short-lists applications.

• December: Approval. The candidates are presented to the LWF Scholarship Committee for approval. The Committee consists of LWF staff from different departments and staff from the related agencies that support the scholarships program. The Committee takes the final decision on the candidates to be approved for scholarships.

• January (of the following year): Information. The LWF informs the churches and LWF national committees of the decisions of the LWF Scholarship Committee. Each church is responsible for informing the individual candidates about the outcome of their application.

• January-December (of the following year): Scholarship implementation. Implementation of approved scholarships must start within one year. For candidates who are already in training, the scholarship will be activated for the following semester. No financial assistance can be paid retroactively for previous academic years or semesters. Each church or national committee is responsible for effective reporting, communication and follow-up with its approved candidates and LWF Geneva.