Filter Alumni
Honorary Doctorate, 2007
Rev. Dr. H. James “Jim” Hopkins
Rev. Dr. H. James “Jim” Hopkins is retiring after serving as Senior Pastor at Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church since 1989! Rev. Dr. Hopkins earned his Master of Divinity in 1983 and received an honorary doctorate in 2007 from Berkeley School of Theology.
Additionally, he served on BST’s Board of Trustees from 2007 – 2015. For 37 years, Pastor Jim served LABC as a preacher, teacher, and writer, offering pastoral care and leadership. Pastor Jim also serves as Pastor of LABC’s partner church, Oakland First Baptist Church. His dedication to his congregation and the wider community is a core part of his calling. In addition to his pastoral duties, he has held several key leadership positions, including President of the Lakeshore Avenue Business Improvement District, President of the American Baptist Ministers Council of Northern California, Co-Chair of the Faith In Action East Bay Board, Vice President of the Interfaith Council of Alameda County, faith leader in the Oakland Ceasefire Partnership, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. Before his tenure at LABC, Pastor Jim served as the Associate Pastor of The First Baptist Church of Los Angeles. Please join us in celebrating Pastor Jim’s retirement and his decades of dedicated service and leadership!
Doctor of Ministry, 2014
Rev. Dr. Barbara Jim-George
Congratulations Rev. Dr. Barbara Jim-George, classes of 2010 (M.Div.) and 2014 (D.Min.)! Dr. Jim-George was recently elected as Assistant Dean of the Congress of Christian Education at the Progressive National Baptist Convention’s Southwest Region’s conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Dr. Jim-George serves as Executive Pastor for the True Faith Community Baptist Church in Antioch, California, and is Dean of the Ministers and Lay Leaders Development Institute. Previously, Dr. Jim-George lead Transforming Ministries Group, a 501 (C)(3) nonprofit organization that taught girls aged 11-16 on methods to avoid human trafficking entrapments; and consulted congregations and faith-based organization leaders on forming faith responses to human trafficking of children in their congregations and communities. She has served at all three board levels for the American Baptist Churches, USA Ministers Council, and graduated with honors and awards for both of her degrees from BST.
Rev. Dr. Shane B. Scott
On Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024, Rev. Dr. Scott formally began as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Capitol Hill in Nashville, Tennessee. Prior to this position, for 12 years Rev. Dr. Scott served as Senior Pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church, in Watts (Los Angeles), California. A native of Franklin, Louisiana, and raised in Richmond, California, Dr. Scott graduated from Berkeley School of Theology in 2008 with a Master of Divinity degree. He also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion and Philosophy from Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and a Doctor of Ministry degree from New York Theological Seminary in New York City, New York. Dr. Scott also holds a certificate in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
