The First Lutheran Church of Boston welcomed a new Pastor in 2019, just after our last Wreath Week before Covid. The Reverend James P. Hopkins was called to New England directly upon the completion of his resident MDiv studies at Concordia Theological Seminary — Fort Wayne, IN. During his time at seminary Rev. Hopkins played on the basketball team, wrote for the Jerome Exegetical Seminar, and tutored in Greek.

Rev. Hopkins holds a B.A. in Sociology and Spanish from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL (2008), and performed postgraduate studies in International Relations at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Before being called into the Office of the Holy Ministry, Rev. Hopkins worked in the Department of Defense and served in the Marine Corps, both on active duty and in the reserves. In addition to deployments to Afghanistan and the Middle East, his fluency in Spanish and Portuguese caused him to be posted in Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay, Panama, and Nicaragua. He now continues his military service in the reserves as a Navy Chaplain. He was very gracious to our Club during Wreath Week, even joining our volunteers for a meal, and we look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with our new host. We have been active maintaining the north facing Church garden on Marlborough Street, which we are sure has been enjoyed by the Congregation as well as by neighbors.