Doris García Rivera
Professor of Old Testament and Mission and Evangelism in the Certificate in Hispanic Ministries and Academic Coordinator for Pathways for Tomorrow Grant at Lexington Theological Seminary
Rev. Dr. Doris García-Rivera is a Professor of Old Testament and Mission and Evangelism in the Certificate in Hispanic Ministries at Lexington Theological Seminary, where she also serves as Academic Coordinator for Pathways for Tomorrow Grant. Her work focuses on Nonprofit Organizations Management, Fundraising, Preaching, Social Justice, Interculturality, Ancient Near Eastern culture, and Prophetic Literature. Since 1982, Rev. Dr. García-Rivera has collaborated with a variety of journals and digital spaces, sharing valuable biblical and theological knowledge and receiving several awards for her writings. She spent 23 years of missionary service in Central America, connecting Indigenous and Central Americans communities with churches and organizations in the U.S. through the International Ministries of American Baptist Churches (IM-ABC). Formerly, she served as Interim Director at Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America (BPFNA)-Bautistas por la Paz. In 2014, Rev. Dr. García-Rivera was appointed President of the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico, becoming the first woman president in the seminary’s history. She holds a PhD focused in Historical & Bible Studies and Sociology from Boston University’s School of Theology; an MAR in Cross-Cultural Evangelism from the Andover Newton Theological School; an MS in Microbiology from the School of Medicine of Puerto Rico; and a BSc from University of Puerto Rico. In 1990, Rev. Dr. Garcia-Rivera was ordained as a minister of the ABC – Puerto Rican Baptist Churches. A proud mother of three adults, she enjoys science fiction, writing, and music.Rev. Dr. Doris García Rivera is present 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, she 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, Doris became the first woman to preside (2014-2019) over the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico, 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.
Doris’ commitments have taken her throughout the United States, Central, and Latin America as a missionary, teacher, conferences speaker, workshops leader, founder, and director of theological schools and programs. Since 2016, she has collaborated as a Board member of theological education accrediting & supporting institutions. As a fruitful writer, Doris 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 Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Boston University Theological School, a MAR in Cross-cultural Evangelism from Andover Theological School, an MSc in Microbiology from the Medical School-University of PR, and a BS in Biology. Doris 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.