Church of God leader Roberto Rivera will be inducted into the prestigious Hall of Prophets at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary on Thursday, March 23, 2011.
Roberto Rivera
The 11:00 a.m. ceremony will feature personal tributes to Rivera from his family and ministry colleagues, including former Church of God General Overseer R. Lamar Vest, Assistant Director of World Missions Victor Pagan and the overseer of Puerto Rico Ildefonso Caraballo who will offer the benediction. Roberto Rivera passed away on October 4, 2009.
Induction into the Hall of Prophets is reserved for those certified ministers whose service to Jesus Christ and the Church of God has been meritorious. The Gallery of Pentecost at the Church of God Theological Seminary is designed for the display of an appropriate plaque to preserve the memory of the selected ministers whose consecration and dedication to the Church is worthy of emulation. The candidate must be either deceased or reached the age of 65 years and have contributed a major portion of his/her life to a full-time, significant ministry in the Church of God.
Additional requirements include that the candidate must be nominated by the president of the seminary and approved by its board of directors. An endowment scholarship fund of not less than $25,000 must be established at the seminary in the recipient’s name.
Roberto Amparo Rivera was born October 30, 1938 in Carolina, Puerto Rico, eighth of thirteen children. He was saved in 1955 and became a Church of God minister in 1960. He devoted more than fifty years of his life to the ministry. He served as a youth director, pastor, education director, assistant editor and editor of Spanish publications and director of Ministerial Care for the Church of God in Puerto Rico.
He received the Distinguished Educator Leadership Award at the 2006 General Assembly for his extensive leadership in education as president of the Pentecostal Bible College in Puerto Rico, superintendent of the Church of God Southeastern Hispanic Region, coordinator of education for the PTS Puerto Rico extension, and president of the Asian Seminary of Christian Ministries. He was adjunct faculty at Lee University, Pentecostal Theological Seminary, Instituto Tematico in Madrid, Spain; Hispanic Summer Program at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia; Seminario Sudamericano in Quito, Ecuador, and Seminario Evangelico de Puerto Rico. In the field of general education, he has been a high school teacher, curriculum specialist, general supervisor of instruction, scriptwriter and producer for educational television, and university academic advisor.
Roberto pursued undergraduate studies at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana; Wheaton College, Illinois; and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He holds a B.A. and M.A. in education from the University of Puerto Rico, an M.A. in theology from Saint Mary’s University in Texas; and a Ph.D. in educational policy and leadership from Ohio State University. He received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology in Kingston, Jamaica. Dr. Rivera was a prolific author, having been published numerous times.
He married Carmen Maria (Meri) and God blessed their union with three children: Carlos, Verenice, Marines, and six grandchildren.