Contact: Michelle Melton, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 800-264-1839, mmelton@lpts.edu

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Dec. 5, 2011 /Standard Newswire/ -- The A. Paul and Carol C. Schaap Foundation in Detroit, Mich., and the Board of Trustees of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary are collaborating to fund a series of annual scholarships in response to the Seminary's new strategic plan, "Covenant for the Future," announced earlier in November.

The Trustee Promise for Ministry Scholarships for Excellence will include a total of twelve annually-funded scholarships, valued up to $20,000 each, provided over five years. Beginning January 2013, one full scholarship will be awarded, with a second to be offered in 2014, and a third in 2015. Each scholarship will be renewable up to three years. This five-year commitment between the Schaap Foundation and Seminary Trustees will contribute a total of $240,000 to student scholarships through January 2017.

In 2008, Dr. A. Paul Schaap, Seminary trustee, chemist, and university professor from Grosse Pointe Park, Mich., initiated a similar series of nine renewable scholarships. In addition to an earlier endowed scholarship named after his father, 1946 Louisville Seminary alum, the Schaaps renewed the series of scholarships in 2010. Schaap said his proposal to sponsor even more scholarships with the Seminary's Board of Trustees was in response to the Seminary's new strategic plan, which will provide full-tuition scholarships for all students in the Seminary's master's degree programs by 2015 and additional stipends for living expenses by 2021.

"My involvement with the Rev. Arnold O. Schaap Scholars has been a personally gratifying experience. I have observed how full scholarships enable the Seminary to attract high quality students who otherwise would not be able to enroll in theological education. It has been rewarding for Carol and me to meet these students and to see them graduate and serve in ministries in which they are making a difference," said Schaap.

By inviting the full Board of Trustees to participate, Schaap said he wanted the Board to have that same personal involvement.

"The strategic plan is very exciting, and it is also challenging and ambitious. It will require sacrificial support from many. I wanted my colleagues on the Board to help lead the way for others, to be able to share by example how personally rewarding it can be to make a way for someone's education," he said.

Seminary President Michael Jinkins said the Seminary's new Covenant Scholarship Plan reflects and builds on Paul and Carol Schaap's visionary experiment, initiated a few years ago, of providing scholarships for students with promise for leadership and ministry.

"Paul and Carol introduced Louisville Seminary to a bold idea. They encouraged us to try something new that would have a lasting effect on the quality of ministry in the world. The success of that experiment, The Arnold O. Schaap Scholarships for Excellence, was a key factor that encouraged the Strategic Planning Committee to identify the 'Covenant Scholarship Plan' as the core component of the Seminary's new vision to make seminary indebtedness a thing of the past. For both the gift and the inspiration, we are profoundly grateful," said Jinkins.

Pamela G. Kidd, chair of the Board of Trustees, said, "The Schaaps have once again led the way by challenging the Board to participate in funding new scholarships. The Board has enthusiastically taken up that challenge as a tangible expression of their support of this new vision for the Seminary, which has the capacity to make a difference not only in the future of theological education, but also in the church."

Visit the Louisville Seminary website to learn more about: the new strategic plan, Covenant for the Future; Paul and Carol Schaap; the Board of Trustees; and the Seminary's current Scholarships for Excellence program. www.lpts.edu