Remembering the Life of a Servant of God: Dr. Paul D. Kooistra
Covenant Theological Seminary said goodbye to a dear friend and beloved leader this week as Dr. Paul D. Kooistra, the third President of the Seminary (1985–1994), former Coordinator of the PCA’s Mission to the World (1994–2014), former President of Erskine Theological Seminary (2014–2016), and a former Moderator of the PCA General Assembly (2008), went to be with the Lord on July 1, 2026, after a year-long battle with cancer. He was 83 years old. The entire Seminary community grieves with Dr. Kooistra’s family at the loss of this faithful servant of God, yet we rejoice as well that he is now face to face with the Savior whom he loved so much.
As the third president of Covenant Seminary, from 1985 to 1994, Dr. Kooistra spearheaded efforts to raise the profile of the Seminary by focusing on what he saw as the essence of the Reformed faith—the message of grace inherent in the gospel—and insisting on presenting that message in a warm and winsome way that would draw unbelievers into Christian fellowship. Under his leadership, the Seminary evolved from a relatively small, inwardly focused institution to one that continues to grow in both size and influence in preparing pastors and other leaders for the Presbyterian Church in America and beyond. Dr. Kooistra was instrumental in bringing Prof. Jerram Barrs to the Seminary in the late 1980s to develop the Francis Schaeffer Institute and related programs, and recruited Dr. Richard Winter to develop of the Seminary’s Master of Arts in Counseling program a few years later. In 1994, Dr. Kooistra stepped down from his role at the Seminary to take over as the fourth Coordinator of MTW.
Under Dr. Kooistra’s twenty-years of leadership, MTW saw significant growth in the number of short-term mission workers, the development of increasingly varied mercy ministries, and the advancement of PCA church partnerships. In addition, under Dr. Kooistra’s watch, MTW prioritized church planting as its core focus while expanding into holistic ministries that integrated evangelism, discipleship, and mercy responses to global needs. Dr. Kooistra’s vision emphasized partnering with local Christian leaders worldwide to empower national churches, reducing dependency on American missionaries and fostering sustainable growth in unreached areas. One of Dr. Kooistra’s keenest interests was enhancing the spiritual life of MTW’s missionaries and staff, to which end he helped develop training curriculum for missionaries and authored several devotional books, all published by MTW.
He stepped down from MTW in 2014 to serve as President of Erskine Theological Seminary, from which he retired in 2016, continuing to teach and preach at churches, seminars, and conferences around the country for many years.
In 2022, Covenant Seminary honored Dr. Kooistra’s life and legacy by establishing The Paul D. Kooistra Chair of World Missions. The endowed faculty chair was funded partly through the Seminary’s Hope for the Future capital campaign and in partnership with Mission to the World. The establishment of the Kooistra Chair ensures that the Seminary will be able to continue training future generations of pastors and ministry leaders to take the gospel to the world. In 2024, the Seminary named Dr. Richard Joe, a twenty-year veteran of MTW under the leadership of Dr. Kooistra, as the first occupant of the Kooistra Chair
As Dr. Joe noted upon his appointment in 2025, “I remember receiving Dr. Kooistra’s invaluable training in MTW as he laid a foundation of gospel-centered grace for every missionary. For twenty years, it has been my privilege and joy to serve as a missionary with MTW. I am deeply humbled and greatly honored to now occupy this chair named for my dear friend and colleague and pray that the Lord will honor his legacy and glorify Jesus’s name by using this position in strategic ways to raise up and equip many new missionaries, church leaders, and scholars to engage in God’s gospel mission to all the nations and to the ends of the earth.”
Rev. Dr. Thomas C. Gibbs, President of Covenant Seminary, commented, “It was a privilege to know Paul. He was President of Covenant Seminary when I came here as a student in 1994, and his vision and leadership were foundational to the generational impacts of the Seminary. His constant emphasis on the message of grace as the essence of the Reformed faith had a tremendous influence not only on the character and direction of the Seminary, but on every endeavor to which he put his hand. His leadership of MTW was instrumental in making that organization one of the finest missionary agencies in the world. In my own role as President of Covenant Seminary, I have cherished the guidance, prayer, and encouragement he provided me. I am not unique in that, as I regularly hear story after story of how Paul faithfully modeled Christ to every person in his life. Though we will miss him greatly, we are grateful that his suffering is now at an end, and we rejoice that his legacy lives on in the lives and ministries of the students, colleagues, friends, and missionaries he influenced.”
Dr. Kooistra is survived by his second wife, Sandi (his first wife, Janet, passed away in 2008), five adult children, and seven grandchildren. Please be in prayer for the Kooistra family.
