Jean Gardy Cenat, USA Seminary Education

Last Updated on Tuesday, 16 November 2010 23:02 Written by Administrator Saturday, 06 November 2010 09:27

STATUS: FUNDING

($4000 committed of $35,000 needed for year 1)

KMF is actively seeking partner congregations and individuals to help fund the seminary education of Rev. Jean Gardy Cenat at Concordia Theological Seminary (Fort Wayne).

Rev. Cenat has been ordained in The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti, having completed the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Theology at Concordia Theological Seminary - Haiti. He also holds a Master's Degree in Accounting from a Haitian university. Rev. Cenat serves as a pastor in the Jacmel area, and also serves as ELCH Treasurer.

The fledgling seminary in Haiti is in need of professors! Those who are qualified to teach at a seminary level in Haiti also serve in a variety of other roles, including parish pastor and district president. One professor serves a congregation of 600 with a large Lutheran school, and has an additional forty congregations under his care as District President. It is clear that teaching seminary courses, in addition to this kind of workload, is difficult.

President Kessa has requested our help in the US-based further education of Rev. Cenat so that he may return to Haiti with the express purpose of teaching seminary courses to the next generation of pastors in Haiti. With 105 congregations and only sixteen ordained men, theological education is a primary concern. Rev. Cenat is uniquely qualified to teach, having taught at a collegiate level already in the area of accounting, prior to his involvement in the Church.

Our team of four that traveled to Haiti in early March, 2010 spent a full week with Rev. Cenat, and we were quite impressed with him. It is our belief that he is a fine theologian in the making, and will make a stellar teacher of the next generation of pastors. What a fantastic opportunity we have to help assure a strong, confessionally-Lutheran pastorate for Haiti!

KMF's plan is to support Rev. Cenat in seeking the degree of Master of Divinity at CTS (Fort Wayne), and perhaps an additional theological degree (STM) after his completion of the M.Div. The cost of this project is expected to be approximately $35,000 per year, and should run 3-5 years (depending upon how many of his courses in Haiti will transfer into the M.Div. Program, and whether he pursues an additional theological degree after the M.Div.). The funds will be provided as an interest-free loan to Rev. Cenat, which will be forgiven at a rate of 25% per year upon his return to Haiti and service to ELCH.

If you are interested in supporting this worthy project, please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . We invite both one-time and ongoing support of this project.

Some helpful resources:

• Jean Gardy Cenat Seminary Acceptance Letter
• Jean Gardy Cenat Bulletin Insert

To hear from Rev. Cenat himself, play the video below!