NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The United Methodist Church Foundation has hired its first fund-raiser, according to the United Methodist News Service. John Rivas, a certified fund-raising executive, will manage individual major and planned gifts along with identifying other denominational funding sources.
The foundation and the denomination's Board of Discipleship fund the position. Rivas will be based in Nashville, Tenn.
Rivas, a member of the Cross of the Hills United Methodist Church in El Paso, Texas, most recently served as the development director for the College of Health and Social Sciences at New Mexico State University.
Previously he was associate director of the El Paso Community College Foundation; founder and executive director of Amy's House Inc. in Washington; development director of Community of Hope Inc. in Washington; and development director at Los Angeles' P.F. Breese Foundation.
Rivas is a graduate of Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Okla., and Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo.
