8 | April 2025
A Faith Servant: Steve Hopkins Retires after Fifty Years of Ministry By Stephanie Heading, managing editor
In the fall of 1975, a 19-year-old college student started his career in ministry at Forest Hill Baptist Church in Ber- lin, KY. Over the next fifty years, Steve Hopkins became a pillar of Ohio Baptist life as a pastor and then a member of the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio staff. On April 7, 2025, Hopkins will celebrate 50 years of minis- try – 22 years in the pastorate and 28 years at SCBO – as well as his retirement from SCBO staff. At Forest Hill BC, Hopkins got his feet wet, serving a small congregation of 25-35 people that met for Sunday school every week but only met for worship every other Sunday. “Those people were so good,” he said. “They were so patient with me. For a 19-year-old college student, it was a good way for me to ease into it. I didn’t have to come up with a sermon each week.” After graduating from college and starting seminary at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, Hopkins accepted the pastorate at Indian Fork Baptist Church, Bagdad, KY, in Shelby County. “The church was a little bit larger there,” he said. “We were running 60-70, and maybe would hit 90-100 on a high attendance day.” After his first year in seminary, Hopkins married his wife Denise and the two started life together. He juggled sem- inary classes and pastoring the church while Denise taught school.
Steve and Denise Hopkins
“When we got married she got a job in Shepherd Coun- ty, KY. So she was teaching there, and we were living in Louisville,” he reminisced. “She was going south for her teaching job, and I was going east for my pastoring. So those days were interesting, but they were good days.” Hopkins came to Ohio in 1981 to serve as pastor at Woodsfield Baptist Church, Woodsfield. In 1983, he and Denise returned to Kentucky to serve First Baptist Church, Prestonsburg, until 1990 when they came to Ohio to min- ister at Whitehall Baptist Church, Columbus. Story continues on the next page...
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