MOURNING THE LOSS OF OUR BELOVED PASTOR RUBEN RIVERA-MARTINEZ

It is with great sorrow that we announce that Pastor Rubén passed away on Wednesday, July 3, 2024.

Reverend Rubén Rivera-Martínez was born on May 24, 1979, in the city of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. His parents are Rubén Rivera and Milagros Martínez. He was the youngest of four siblings: Yanira Rivera, Polanska Rivera, and Dwight Rivera.

At an early age, Rubén moved with his family to a town in the north part of the island, Arecibo. It is there that he pursued all of his formal elementary, middle, and high school studies. At the age of 18, he returned to San Juan to pursue his university studies at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, the first university center in the country.

In 2002, he finished his studies and obtained a bachelor’s degree in political science with a major in History.

Rubén was born within the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico, and during his life he has worked in different areas of the church, including the committee for the celebration of the Centennial of the Methodist Church in Puerto Rico.

At age 16, he received his call to the pastorate and a year later, at age 17, the Lord confirmed his call. Years later, at the age of 24, between April and May 2004, Rubén received acall from Reverend Julio Martínez. The Superintendent called him to announce his first pastoral charge. The Lord called him to the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico Bethel in Arecibo, as associate pastor of Reverend Ramón Segarra. It was a year of much learning and growth, both spiritually and in knowledge of managing a church.

Rubén studied theology at the same time as pastoring, and in 2008, obtained a master of divinity from the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico.

On June 18, 2005, Rubén married Ileann M. Hernández, with whom he had been dating for eight years. In July 2005, the young couple began to form a new home and at the same time the young pastor was called to the Villas de Loiza Methodist Church in Canovanas, a town in eastern Puerto Rico. It was a small church where his main challenge was to bring back the members who, due to different circumstances, were no longer in the church. In three years of hard work, Rubén managed to bring those brothers and new brothers. It started with two sisters on its first Sunday and ended with more than 60 brothers and sisters.

In 2007, Rubén’s family grew, welcoming his daughter, Neliann Marie Rivera, and in 2008 they welcomed twins Ian Rubén Rivera and Liam Rubén Rivera.

In July 2008, Rubén was assigned to a new pastoral position. This time he returned again to San Juan. On this occasion, he was appointed to the Carlos Wesley Methodist Church, better known as Reparto. Rubén and his family spent 10 years there. He came to a church for the elderly and when he left in 2018, there were different groups and areas of work in the church, including children and youth.

The last great work of the pastor in Puerto Rico was after the passage of Hurricane Maria. Despite the fact that the pastoral house suffered damage and had losses due to flooding on two occasions, the pastor, together with his family, helped his community, local church and brothers from other towns on the island. His church became a collection and distribution center for non-perishable food and basic necessities for all the victims. The doors of his home were opened to his entire community and the prayer service that was held at night during the week was held in the garage of his home. They were the only ones who had a power plant and in their area, although they spent five months without power service.

In 2018, Rubén received a call from the New York Anual Conference with the offer to come and pastor here and open a Hispanic service. After studying the offer, talking with his family, and praying for the Lord’s direction, Rubén agreed to come to the United States.

In June 2018, Rubén and his family arrived in Long Island, NY. On the first Sunday in July, he began pastoring at Flanders Methodist Church, his first appointment to the New York Annual Conference. In the four years that he worked in the church, the pastor opened a service aimed at the Hispanic community.

Through the pandemic, Rubén continued to work and proclaim the word of the Lord. He began broadcasting the service on his personal Facebook page; then, with the help of a young man from the church, they opened a page for the church on Facebook and Instagram, in addition to making a QR code for mobile access.

Rubén went to the streets to distribute church promotions throughout the community and started a podcast on Fridays. The half-hour weekly slot was called “Take a Break.”

He also began to distribute food, clothing and aid to the Hispanic community, especially the most vulnerable.

On July 1, 2022, Pastor Rubén began a new pastoral assignment at Cornerstone Community Church in Norwalk, Connecticut, where he made great strides working hand in hand with the brothers and sisters of the church, the Norwalk community and everyone who needs the word of God. In spring 2024, Pastor Rubén started an all Spanish service that was being well received by the community. It had been several years since Cornerstone had an all-Spanish service.

On July 2, 2024, Pastor Rubén flew to Bolivia to help run their Walk to Emmaus retreat. He became ill on July 3rd and passed away on that same day. An interim pastor will be appointed shortly. Anyone in need of pastoral care can call the church office at 203-866-3707.