River Road Church, Baptist of Richmond, VA has partnered with Passport, Inc. to establish The Chester Phelps Passport Seminary Scholarship with an inaugural group of six scholarship recipients. All six recipients have served on PASSPORT Summer Staff and are pursuing careers in ministry through seminary training.
The Chester Phelps Passport Seminary Scholarship has awarded a total of $9,000 to be shared between each of the following Passport Summer Staffers: Anna Beth (Mann) Cross, Jonathan Chacko, Jonathan Hall, Luke Perrin, Milligan Burroughs, and Tori Crook.
The Chester Phelps Passport Seminary Scholarship is made possible by a partnership with River Road Church, Baptist, through annual budgeted funds. As this scholarship became reality, Passport requested to name the scholarship in honor of Rev. Chester Phelps, a career minister at River Road who brought many groups to Passport over the last thirty years. Chester began his time at River Road in 1984 as the Minister to Preschoolers, Children, and Youth. He retired in 2004 as the Minister of Youth, though he returned twice to interim ministry positions in 2012-13, and 2016-17. He received a BA degree from Carson Newman College, and graduate degrees from Kent State University and the Presbyterian School of Christian Education. Chester and his wife Margaret have two children and four grandchildren.
“Passport has long wished for financial support to share with our summer staffers toward the costs of a Divinity degree. The goal of the scholarship is to help students pursue their call to ministry through an annual gift during the three years of their degree program.” said Passport Founder and President, David Burroughs. “Young ministers are leaving seminaries with significant debt. River Road Church, Baptist isn’t just helping Passport invest in the lives of these ministers, River Road is helping Passport invest in the future of the church.”
“River Road Church is deeply honored to invest in the lives, callings, and education of ministers through Passport. We are thrilled that Passport suggested naming this scholarship after Chester—a faithful minister in our church, a committed supporter of young women and men in ministry, and a dedicated friend to Passport,” said Daniel Glaze, pastor of River Road Church, Baptist.
The main requirement for recipients is to successfully complete a summer ministering on staff at Passport Camps. At the end of this, and successive summers, the scholarship application will be available to any staffer who is in or entering Seminary, pursuing a career in ministry.
“Passport is excited to partner with River Road Church and proud of each of these deserving ministers,” said Burroughs.
Passport is a national non-profit student ministry providing creative summer camp experiences for youth and children, focusing on mission action and education. www.passportcamps.org Facebook Instagram
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