Provost & Director of Church Vitality
New Mexico Conference of The United Methodist Church
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Board Member: 2022 to present
Civic and Volunteer Activities:
Wesleyan Investive – Board of Directors
TMF, Board of Directors
Lydia Patterson Institute – Board of Trustees
South Central Jurisdiction Committee on Episcopacy – Member
Rev Dr. Eduardo (Eddie) Rivera was born in Monterrey, Mexico, and raised in a clergy Methodist family. He received God’s Call to ordained ministry in the summer of 1979, and was ordained an Elder of the Methodist Church of Mexico in 1988. He transferred his credentials to the New Mexico Conference of The United Methodist Church in 1998.
He attended the Lydia Patterson Institute in El Paso, Texas, where he learned English. He earned a Bachelor of Theology Degree (B.Th.) from the Seminario Metodista Juan Wesley in Monterrey, Mexico, in 1985, a Master of Theology Degree (Th.M.) in 1992, and a Doctor of Ministry Degree (D.Min.) in 1997. His graduate work was completed at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, GA.
Rivera has served in full-time ministry for almost 40 years in both Mexico and the United States, ministering in the Conferencia Anual Oriental (Mexico), Southern Illinois Conference (now Illinois Great Rivers Conference), the Northwest Texas Conference (NWTX), and in the New Mexico Conference. While in the NWTX Conference, Rivera served four years as the Senior Pastor of St. Paul UMC in Abilene, Texas. As a member of the New Mexico Conference, he has pastored various churches, served five years as the El Paso District Superintendent, and now serves as the Conference’s Provost and Director of Church Vitality.
In addition, he is as a member of the Board of Directors of both the Wesleyan Investive (formerly United Methodist Development Fund) and TMF (formerly Texas Methodist Foundation). He is also a member of the Board of Advisors for Regional Course of Study of Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, a member of the Lydia
Patterson Institute Board of Trustees, and a member of the South Central Jurisdiction Committee on Episcopacy.
Rivera attended the 2008 and 2012 General and Jurisdictional Conferences as a Reserve Delegate and was the head of the New Mexico Delegation for the 2016 General and Jurisdictional Conferences, as well as for the Special General Conference in 2019. He is a Reserve Delegate of the New Mexico Delegation for the upcoming General and Jurisdictional Conferences.
Rivera is married to Hilda, a retired professional educator. Their daughter Lizet and son-in-law Derek Dickinson are attorneys who live and work in Nashville, TN. They are proud grandparents of four-year-old Olivia.