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!
Rev. Michael-Ray Mathews
Michael is president of the Alliance of Baptists and Deputy Director for Faith in Action, formerly PICO National Network, a national community organizing network that gives people of faith the tools that they need to fight for justice and work towards a more equitable society. Michael is a senior fellow at Auburn Seminary and affiliate faculty at BST.
Rev. Dr. Randle (Rick) Mixon
On August 1, 2023, Rev. Dr. Mixon started as Interim Senior Minister of Old Cambridge Baptist Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Rev. Dr. Mixon is an ordained American Baptist minister with over 30 years of experience in pastoral ministry, church leadership, and social justice advocacy. He has been involved in various regional and national organizations. These include the Alliance of Baptists, the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, and the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America. Rev. Dr. Mixon also holds a Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy from California State University and a Doctorate in Religion and Psychology from Graduate Theological Union.
Rev. Hkun Naung
Rev. Naung graduated from BST with his Master of Divinity, was ordained in 2024, and is Pastor of the Washington Kachin Baptist Church which meets at Panther Lake Community Church in Kent, Washington. On December 29, 2024, Rev. Naung performed his first baptisms. Initially, the baptism candidates were a group of youths from Washington Kachin Baptist Church, and grew to include members of the Karen Community Church of Greater Seattle. The December 29 service included 12 baptisms performed by the three pastors, special music, scripture readings in English, Karen, and Kachin, a sermon, communion, and a celebratory lunch. The full story can be read in the latest edition of Evergreen Notes. Rev. Naung asks people to pray for the Kachin people, who suffer in great danger in a civil war.
Doctor of Divinity, 2022
Rev. Dr. Curtis Price
Curtis is Pastor at First Baptist Church in Salt Lake City, Utah. Curtis has over 20 years of experience as a pastor and has served at Salt Lake First Baptist Church for 14 years. Curtis’ DMin dissertation topic at BST is entitled Redeeming the Church: Healing and Reconciliation Between the LGBTQ Community and the Church.
Rev. Damonn White
Rev. White began a new pastoral assignment and will be formally installed as Pastor at Second Union Baptist Church in San Francisco. Rev. White has been a member of Cornerstone Missionary Baptist Church for 14 years and has served on staff since 2014. Rev. White also completed his Clinical Pastoral Education at Kaiser in Walnut Creek, and graduated from the CPE program on October 19, 2023. Rev. White received his Master’s in Divinity from Berkeley School of Theology at 2022.
