Rev. Dr. Valerie Miles-Tribble
Dr. Valerie is Professor of Ministerial Leadership and Practical Theology at BST. Valerie engages liberation theology as a womanist scholar, practical theologian, and community activist pastor to raise critical awareness of systemic oppressions. As the 2021 GTU Distinguished Faculty Lecturer, Valerie holds dual GTU department alignment in Theology & Ethics and Religion & Practice to integrate theoethics with intersections of social justice praxis in church and society for restorative public approaches. In addition to several journal publications and book chapter contributions, she authored the monograph, Change Agent Church in Black Lives Matter Times: Urgency for Action. Valerie is the Interim Pastor at Faith Church in Oakland, California.
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!
Don Jordan
Don Jordan who received a Master of Community Leadership degree at Commencement 2023! Don was a student at BST when it was still Berkeley Baptist Divinity School in the 1960s but transferred before completing his MDiv degree. Following graduation from San Francisco State, he had a long career that included decades leading a multi-state region of the United Way. After a recent review of his transcript, he was determined to have more than enough credits for the MCL degree. Well done, Don! BST is proud of your academic achievements and your faithful leadership in the community.
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. 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.
Rev. Dr. Warren H. Stewart, Sr.
Rev. Dr. Stewart is ABCOFLASH’s Annual Meeting speaker from October 4-5, 2024, in Glendale, California. The sessions are: “Preaching and Leading God’s Unfinished Business Today”; a breakout opportunity titled “Pastoring and Serving God’s Unfinished Business in the War Zone: A Conversation with Dr. Warren Stewart”; and “Our Strategic Assignment: Passing the Lord’s Baton Generationally.” Dr. Stewart is Senior Pastor of First Institutional Baptist Church in Phoenix, Arizona and has served there since July 1, 1977. Dr. Stewart was appointed Executive Secretary of the Home Mission Board of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., in November 1994 and served 10 years. In 1982, Dr. Stewart received his Doctor of Ministry from Berkeley School of Theology. Dr. Stewart has also served on BST’s Board of Trustees, including as the Board Chair.
