Paul Boersma Holds
Maas Endowed Chaplaincy

The Rev. Paul Boersma of the Hope College staff holds the college's Leonard and Marjorie Maas Endowed Chaplaincy.

The endowed chaplaincy was established in 1998 by Leonard and Marjorie Maas of Grandville to provide on-going support of the campus ministries program at Hope.

The college's chaplains work in pastoral and relational ministry with Hope students, helping the students to respond to personal and spiritual challenges and to grow in their faith. Activities of the campus ministries office include weekday and Sunday evening worship services, small group Bible studies, and leadership and service opportunities for students, the latter including several spring break mission trips domestically and abroad.

Boersma joined the college's campus ministries staff during the summer of 1994. He was previously pastor of youth and education at Community Reformed Church in Holland, where he had been employed since 1983.

He graduated from Hope in 1982, and holds a master of divinity from Western Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Melody, live in Zeeland and have three children: Aaron, Joel and Emily.

Leonard and Marjorie Maas have beenlong-time supporters of the college. Leonard, who passed away in 2010, was a member of the college's Board of Trustees from 1979 to 1993, serving since as an honorary member of the board. Marjorie was active in the Women's League for Hope College, which raised funds for many years to enhance Hope's residence halls. They have been members of the Reformed Church in America, which is the college's parent denomination.

Their sons Thomas and Steven are both Hope graduates, members of the classes of 1978 and 1981 respectively.

Together with their sons, they donated the college's Maas Center, dedicated in 1986. In addition to supporting numerous other projects, they also established the Kelder-Maas Scholarship, in honor of their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Kelder and Mr. and Mrs. Lambert Maas. They also recently provided major support for the newly constructed Richard and Helen DeVos Fieldhouse and the A. Paul Schaap Science Center.

Endowed chairs are established by donors who wish to assist the college on a permanent basis through the support of a faculty member. The gift is placed in the college's endowment fund with investment income used to support the work of the honored professor. In addition to recognizing faculty members for excellence, endowed chairs provide funding for summer research projects as well as some salary support.

Learn more about establishing an endowed professorship