Rev. Dr. John Tisdale College Scholarship
St. John’s UCC is offering a $1,000 merit and need-based scholarship to further your education and honor the life and ministry of Rev. Dr. John Tisdale.
The application is linked below for you to submit for consideration by the scholarship committee. Please be assured that all information will be held in strict confidence. Letter codes will be assigned to all applications, and the only person who will know the applicants’ identities will be the chairperson of the committee. With the exception of the scholarship recipient and alternates, all applications will be shredded after the scholarship is awarded.
The criteria used to determine the scholarship recipient are:
Acceptance by the school of your choice on or before May 15
Completed Scholarship Application
Letter of Reference
Please submit all application materials to:
St. John’s UCC
Scholarship Committee
PO Box E
1415 Rising Sun Road
Laurys Station, PA 18059
All applications must be received by May 15, 2022. The recipient will be announced at St. John’s UCC Laurys Station during the church service on the last Sunday of May.
2025 Scholarship Information will be linked at a later date.
THE REVEREND DOCTOR JOHN R. TISDALE
(1932-2015)
The Rev. Dr. John Tisdale was an ordained minister, teacher, psychologist, author, and a professional in the health and medical arena. In those various roles, he spent his life ministering to others, attending to their spiritual, emotional intellectual, and physical needs and wants.
He began the preparation for his calling by earning a B.A. (Cornell College, Iowa,), a M.Div. (Boston University School of Theology) and a Ph.D. in Psychology and Pastoral Counseling (Boston University Graduate School).
As an ordained minister he served as pastor of churches in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Iowa and as supply pastor in many churches in the Lehigh Valley.
On special appointment from his bishop, Dr. Tisdale assumed professorial duties in the psychology department at Cornell College and later at Cedar Crest College in Allentown, PA, from which he retired with emeritus status in 1996. During his teaching career, he was the recipient of several grants and was selected for inclusion in the compendium, OUTSTANDING EDUCATORS IN AMERICA.
Dr. Tisdale’s background in pastoral counseling and psychology informed his adult life. He ministered directly and indirectly to many through a private counseling practice and through his association with various counseling and service organizations in the Allentown, Pa area, among which, to name a few, were the Pastoral Institute of the Lehigh Valley, Lehigh Valley Child Guidance Clinic, Tri County Mental Health/Mental Retardation Office, serving on the boards of directors and/or as consultant in psychological and spiritual matters.
He also played a vital role in local, regional, and national professional psychological organizations contributing important ideas on individual well being and spiritual growth and assuming leadership roles. He was named a Fellow by the Lehigh Valley Psychological and Counseling Association. The American Psychological Association awarded him Fellow status as well for “unusual and outstanding contributions to the field of psychology.” He often read papers or chaired symposia at professional conventions. Additionally, Dr. Tisdale was the author of over forty articles and reviews and editor of a book of readings on the psychology of religion.
Throughout his adult life, Dr. Tisdale learned, taught, and carried out responsibilities associated with health and medicine. He taught first aid and CPR, became certified and volunteered as an EMT and paramedic with ambulance corps, and was on the board of directors of the Eastern Pennsylvania Emergency Medical Services Council, playing an important role as designated counselor for other first responders when they needed spiritual and emotional support.
During all his years of spiritual growth and faithful ministry to others, Dr. Tisdale was also the devoted family man. He with his wife raised four children, and in the years before his death he rejoiced in the company of his three grandchildren.
