Rev. Dr. Doris Garcia Rivera joins the LTS community as the Academic Coordinator for the Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative at LTS. Rev. Dr. Garcia Rivera began her work with LTS Feb. 1, 2022. Dr. Garcia Rivera is presently the Interim Executive Director of Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America (BPFNA). BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz is a network of thousands of peacemakers from four-member nations – Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the United States, sustaining a variety of national and international peacemaking initiatives. As part of the broader Hispanic biblical scholars active in higher education, Christian missions, and social justice, Dr. Garcia Rivera spent 23 years of missionary service with International Ministries of the American Baptist Churches (1990-2013) in Central America as a Hebrew Bible professor, learning and integrating intercultural frameworks in her teaching. Following this time, Dr. Garcia Rivera became the first woman to preside over the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico (2014-2019), bringing the seminary back to life after Hurricane Maria with the collaboration of multiple relief organizations, partner churches, seminaries, and volunteers. She promoted continuing education and improved the Seminary’s information technology infrastructure. Dr. Garcia Rivera’s commitments have taken her throughout the United States, Central America, and Latin America as a missionary, teacher, conference speaker, workshop leader, founder, and director of theological schools and programs. Since 2016, she has collaborated as a Board member of theological education accrediting and supporting institutions. A fruitful writer, Dr. Garcia Rivera has effectively shared for over 20 years valuable educational, theological, and biblical materials in a variety of books, journals, and denominational digital spaces. She has a PhD in Biblical Studies from Boston University Theological School, an MAR in Cross-cultural Evangelism from Andover Theological School, an MSc in Microbiology from the Medical School-University of Puerto Rico, and a BS in Biology. Dr. Garcia Rivera enjoys reading science fiction, writing, and hearing an eclectic mix of ethnic and contemporary music. She is a proud Puerto Rican woman and mother of three young adults. |