The late Pastor Rev. Dr. Booker T. Hopkins and First Lady Georgia L. Hopkins conceived the idea for creating endowed scholarships for Second Baptist Church. The concept was presented to the joint boards and congregation and overwhelmingly supported and approved in December 1986. In support of the scholarship and endowment purposes, the first scholarship banquet was held in 1991 at the Radisson On-The-Lake Hotel, and the first recipient was Andria Taylor.
Pastor Hopkins initially planned to create three endowments of $25,000 each at Eastern Michigan University, Washtenaw Community College, and Tennessee State University. A pledge program at the church represented the kick-off. The EMU endowment was completed and named The B.T. Hopkins Endowed Scholarship.
With the WCC endowment nearly completed, God chose to call Rev. Hopkins to a new kingdom.
The endowment was eventually completed and funded at a level of $20,000. It was established in the name of B.T. and G.L. Hopkins, as well as the Second Baptist Church of Ypsilanti Scholarship. Unfortunately, due to Pastor Hopkins’ passing, the dream of establishing an endowment at Tennessee State University was never fulfilled.
In December 2002, under new pastoral leadership, the Second Baptist Scholarship Committee was reactivated. The committee was effectively led by Dr. James Hawkins, who serves as the Chair while also serving as the Vice Chair of the Trustee Ministry. With the support of both the congregation and the community, the committee successfully increased the endowment principal each year to maximize scholarship funds.
Since Pastor Waddles took on the pastoral leadership of Second Baptist Church, he has been a strong and steadfast supporter of Rev. Dr. Booker T. Hopkins, Sr.'s vision. During the 2016-2017 academic year, Pastor Waddles and the Scholarship Ministry worked to expand scholarship funding to eligible members attending non-endowed colleges, universities, and trade schools.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Scholarship Ministry couldn't hold its annual Scholarship Banquet in person. In response, Pastor Waddles proposed "Scholarship Sunday" to support the fund during those tough times. Thanks to God's grace, we can now hold our annual Scholarship Banquet in person again.
