Mentoring in a Different Way Legacy Givers Jim and Glener Gilland

Throughout his life, Rev. Dr. Jim Gilland was a strong advocate and mentor for young people pursuing careers in ministry, especially young North Carolinians studying at his alma mater, Duke Divinity School. After Jim’s death in 2023, Glener reflected on the many pastors he had guided, writing, “Now he can continue to help young pastors, just in a different way.” 

That “different way” began in 1998, when Jim retired and Providence United Methodist Church in Salisbury partnered with the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation to establish the Jim and Glener Gilland Scholarship. Friends and family also gave in gratitude for the Gillands and their ministry, helping launch the fund in their honor. 

The Gillands did more than lend their names to the scholarship. They chose to support it themselves—giving faithfully and consistently over many years. In 2012, they informed the Foundation they planned to include the scholarship in their estate plans, extending their commitment well beyond their lifetimes. 

By 2011, the fund had grown to the level needed to begin awarding an annual scholarship. Since then, it has helped fund the future of one Duke Divinity student each year from the Western North Carolina Annual Conference. Today, Glener continues to champion the scholarship, sustaining a legacy that keeps helping students—and strengthening the Church—for generations to come.