It is with great pleasure that Network of Presbyterian Women in Leadership (NPWL) welcomes Kelly Nieto as our 2007 Lydia Scholar. Kelly is a student at Princeton Theological Seminary. She is a graduate of University of California Berkeley, with a major in History. Before attending seminary, Kelly taught History and French at a Christian high school for five years. At UC Berkeley, she pursued leadership as the president of a Christian sorority. Many of her experiences with these Christian women shaped her sense of call and ministry today.

Kelly says “I am especially excited about educating women in God’s Word and their place in God’s church.” As a missional woman of God, she hopes to use her education as a foundation for ministry inside and outside the church to encourage God’s people to “be salt and light to those who need to know more about the Savior’s love.”  Kelly has spent time in mission activities in Europe, India, Mexico and North Africa. This summer, Kelly and her husband, Michael, are headed to Mexico for a 3 month international field education experience at a Presbyterian Church an hour outside Cancun.

Both Kelly and Michael are students at Princeton Theological Seminary. When she returns in September, Kelly will be ministering at Long Valley Presbyterian Church in Long Valley, NJ. Welcome Kelly to the distinguished sorority of Lydia Scholars.

The Lydia Fund is a scholarship program for women who have experienced God’s call to become ordained pastors in the PCUSA and who have a vision of spiritual renewal within the denomination. Administered by the Network of Presbyterian Women in Leadership (NPWL), under the umbrella of Presbyterians For Renewal, the Lydia Fund seeks to equip evangelical women for leadership in the church. Selected nationally each year, scholarship recipients are outstanding women with a personal and vibrant commitment to Jesus Christ, a call to serve in ordained pastoral ministry within the PCUSA and a desire to work for renewal within the Body of Christ.

More information about the Lydia Fund Scholarship

List of Lydia Scholarship recipients.