Paul Kooistra addresses the PCA General Assembly
Paul David Kooistra passed away on July 1, 2026, at age 83, after being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. An active pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America since its founding, Paul Kooistra’s life and ministry were characterized by his passion for multiplying churches and leaders who are rooted in God’s grace and passionate for the Great Commission. He possessed the credentials and gifts to serve as a transformative leader in various roles across the PCA, including as the president of Covenant Theological Seminary and coordinator of Mission to the World.
Born October 11, 1942 in Duluth, Minnesota, Kooistra graduated from Columbia Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, with a master of divinity degree and received his doctorate from the University of Alabama. He served on the pastoral staff of two congregations in Florida before becoming a professor at Belhaven College and later at Reformed Theological Seminary, both in Jackson, Mississippi.
In 1985, Kooistra was hired to serve as president of Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. He prioritized building a faculty committed to rooting pastoral training in God’s grace and fostering a warm and winsome expression of Reformed theology while holding firmly to biblical essentials. During his tenure, Covenant became one of the fastest-growing seminaries in the country with over 500 master of divinity students. In 2022, Covenant Theological Seminary established the Paul Kooistra Chair of World Missions.
Tom Gibbs, current president of the seminary, was a student at Covenant when Kooistra led Covenant. He said Kooistra’s vision and leadership were vital to the seminary’s sustained impact over generations:
[Kooistra’s] 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.
In 1994, he was called to serve as coordinator of Mission to the World. Under Kooistra’s leadership, MTW grew to become the largest missionary agency in Presbyterian history. Lloyd Kim, current coordinator of Mission to the World, said MTW is indebted to Kooistra “not only for his faithful leadership over MTW for twenty years but instilling a culture of grace. He was a mentor and friend and will be dearly missed.”
Beyond his leadership roles, he was an active churchman. Kooistra served on the Standing Judicial Commission from its inception in 1989 until 2026, and he was elected to serve as moderator of the 36th General Assembly in 2008. He served on numerous committees and spearheaded various initiatives to unify the denomination around its commitment to the Great Commission.
Regarding his vision for the PCA’s future, as the PCA prepared to celebrate its 50th anniversary, Kooistra urged the denomination to focus on unity:
As a denomination, we need to remember what holds us together, because what holds us together is much more important and much stronger than those things that bring disagreement among us. Ever since the Fall people have moved away from each other, not toward each other. We need to be careful that we are as concerned with the breadth of our church as we are with the boundaries and narrowness of our church. Both of those things need to be held together in tension.”
After stepping down as coordinator of Mission to the World in 2014, he became president of Erskine College and Seminary before retiring in 2016. During his tenure, Kooistra focused on stabilizing Erskine amid financial pressures and accreditation concerns. In late 2014, he implemented significant cost-saving measures that led to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges reaffirming Erskine’s full accreditation. Since then, he has served the PCA Administrative Committee as a placement and development consultant.
Dan Doriani, a Covenant professor of biblical and systematic theology who was on faculty during Kooistra’s tenure at the seminary, described Kooistra as committed to God’s mission: “Paul Kooistra was a highly effective, even brilliant, president of Covenant Seminary. He was a bold, creative, and wise leader. Kooistra proved his leadership skills again as head of the PCA’s Mission to World and in other strategic roles. Whether his job title included the word “Mission” or not, Paul is always a man on a mission – God’s mission.”
Kooistra’s wife of 43 years, Janet, passed away in 2008. He married Sandra Tucker in 2009, and she survives him, along with the five adult children and seven grandchildren in their families.
The family requests that memorial gifts be directed to the following ministries:
The Timothy Foundation, 130 Lenape Drive, Berwyn, Pennsylvania 19312
Covenant Theological Seminary, 12330 Conway Road, St. Louis, Missouri 63141
Mission to The World, 1600 N. Brown Road, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043
Flowers may be sent to Chestnut Mountain Presbyterian Church, 4675 Winder Hwy, Flowery Branch, Georgia 30542. No funeral arrangements had been announced by the time of publication.