A pastoral care worker married to a Melkite priest, an artist who wants to explore the concept of pilgrimage and a wheatbelt resident who hopes to share a deeper experience of the Scriptures with her family, parish and school were the winners of the first BJ Hickey Biblical Foundation scholarships last week.
Archbishop Emeritus Barry Hickey was on hand at the Faith Centre last Wednesday to announce the first scholarships to be awarded.
Winner Roula Cummins said she was delighted; she will use her scholarship to attend the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem.
“I’m thrilled, absolutely thrilled. I didn’t expect to get the scholarship but now I will go there, walk there, see the history and the culture,” Mrs Cummins, who is married to Graylands chaplain Fr Kevin Cummins, told The Record.
“I’m terribly excited; I want to tell more people about [the Institute] so more people can go,” she said.
Artist Angela King has also chosen to use her scholarship to visit Jerusalem.
She will study a two-week course Palestine of Jesus – An Eastertide Journey at St George’s College located in Jerusalem.
Merredin resident Deirdre Farrell will complete a Higher Certificate in Biblical Studies, a course developed by the Lebone Catholic Bible College in Johannesburg and administered through Perth’s Faith Centre.
Although she could not be present for the presentation, Ms Fardell said in her application for the scholarship that “being on the parish Board and the school board of St Mary’s Catholic School in Merredin allows me to collaborate with others in the local community to help foster a love of the Bible and to develop some skills in understanding and interpreting biblical writings.”
Archbishop Emeritus Hickey said that while there were plenty of ‘high academics’, the foundation named for him hoped to bringing a more widespread biblical knowledge to the level of the people.