A little history about the current Evans & Williams Scholarship Board Members.

The journey of these three men, Milton Hopkins, Oliver Hart, and Royce Green, begins early with association with their mentor(s)N.L. Evans & Dr. Steve Williams.

Each individual’s respective mentor had a connection

Dr. Loyd Clay Harris from the School of Religious Studies and their journey with the institution began.

Now, the answer to an important question that might have come across your mind - How the N.L. Evans Memorial Scholarship and Support Fund came about.

The Atlanta Street Church of Christ Elders in Texarkana, Texas, established the Scholarship & Support Fund. Before anything was put together the Elders, Bro. Green, and Bro. Harris had a conservation with the widows of the fallen servants and receives a blessing from both Sis. Willie Mae Evans and Sis. Kaye Williams.

The Scholarship has three purposes

1. Honor the Memory and Legacy of two deceased Ministers of Atlanta Street Church of Christ and most of all their commitment to the School of Religious Studies: a college where they both gave a great deal of their lives and time to encourage and support upcoming ministers. They did so by serving on the Board of Directors, teaching courses in the school, later with a satellite class at the Atlanta Street Church of Christ.

2. The program provides scholarships to students attending SRS to help them through their matriculation in order to replenish trained ministers available to the Church of Christ throughout the brotherhood.

This Scholarship is not only to train men to become ministers, but for our sister who wish to become more knowledgeable in the bible, successful Sunday School Teachers, Evangelism workers, etc.

3. The program provides support to the school to aid the meeting of its financial goals in operation of the school. On March 19, 2022, after being delayed for 6 months due to Covid, the first banquet was a success. The founding committee are three graduates of SRS. Atlanta Street Elders and Bro. Green a minister in Dekalb Tx. They later added some more people to serve as committee members, who meets regularly for discussions and to make decisions getting what it would take to make this not only happen, but successful.

Starting out was not easy!

The name had to be established, set up a bank account and the Scholarship account started with $0.00 dollars the Elders and committee members were determined to keep the legacy of these two men alive. With the determination, the committee put money into the account to get it established and were on the way. Event planning of any type requires sacrifices which encourages each team member to take on not one but numerous responsibilities and tasks that need to be done to make the event a success. From having tickets made, selling tickets, reaching out to vendors, making donations out of their pockets and reaching out to others to help. The banquet was initially scheduled for October 2021, a few weeks out from the event Covid was on the rise and pot a hold on all plans. The team refused let Covid stop them, plans for a new location and new date was immediately set. On March 19,2022 at 3:00 p.m., our first semi-formal banquet was held at the Texarkana Convention Center in Texarkana, TX. The team wanted a powerhouse speaker, after putting together a concise list of choices, a selection was made, a call was established, and was accepted by Bro. Terry Wallace of West Oak Grove Church of Christ in Hernando, MS he did a magnificent job, the crowd of almost 200 people were more than pleased. Yes, ticket sales were slow at first and refunds were offered to those that bought tickets for the event original date in October 2021 however, many were entrusting the event would happen and we would honor their tickets. We kept record of those that had paid and gave tickets to them once the new date and tickets were selected and printed. Ticket sales picked up during the last month, people want to see what would be going on at this banquet. The board received tons of positive feedback and many people said it was better than they expected. It was clear the Scholarship Banquet was a success! One thing we did learn once you have set your date to end the sale of your ticket do not try to accommodate those that wait until the last minute because you must turn your count into the caters 3 days before your event. We had to turn away people that were calling for tickets less than 24 hours before the event. Bro. Harris was our guiding light, he would answer any question we had or give suggestions that would make things run smoothly. Thank you, Dr. Harris, for encouraging us and the family support. Our goal was to give a scholarship to a student to help him or her with their studies and help support the school. The team was able to award our first scholarship of $ 1,000.00 for the 2022-2023 fall semester to Bro. Kendrick Kemble attended the banquet and accepted his award. Congratulations!! Although our fundraising goal was not as big as we wanted, we were thankful for all the support. Thanks to donations being made at the door of the banquet we came out in the Black with $1500.00 remaining in the account to start of the Banquet to be held on March 18, 2023. We were graced to have the support of the Evans and Williams Families, SRS Board members and in attendance, Dr. Billy Moore, Bro. Jeff Jefferson, and some family of the Harris Family foundation. Thanks to the churches, individuals, and businesses that supported this scholarship fund by making donations and purchasing tickets, we would not be able to give a scholarship. Thank You for making this banquet a success. With God’s help, we plan to make the 2025 banquet even better. More information will be available soon. Elders Milton Hopkins & Oliver Hart of Atlanta St. Church of Christ in Texarkana, TX. Bro. Royce Green, Minister of the Dotson St. Church of Christ in Dekalb, TX. And other committee members.