Pr. John Nelson is a pillar of our community that we are proud to call this year's Grand Marshal.
Pr. John Nelson is the senior pastor of Gethsemane Lutheran Church of Hopkins where he has served for the past 16 years. Gethsemane has been a part of the Hopkins community for over 130 years and Pr. Nelson has continued the congregation’s commitment to their neighbors by working with the city on several projects and working with our community nonprofits. He has led numerous projects with ResourceWest, ICA, and Reach & Restore that all serve the needs of our neighbors. He is a regular leading worship at Chaple View care center and filing in at the local funeral home when a family does not have a church connection.
In 2010 he became a volunteer Police Chaplain with the Hopkins Police Department and has gone on numerous callouts, assisting our officers with end-of-life response calls. In 2015 he helped create the Hopkins Race and Equity Initiative, a collaboration between the City of Hopkins, the Hopkins Police Department, the Hopkins School District, and Gethsemane Lutheran Church. HREI’s goal is to create opportunities to increase awareness and understanding around race, equity, and diversity in our community which won the 2018 Local Government Innovation Award from the University of Minnesota Humphery Institute.
Congratulations, Pastor Nelson!
