From Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe: On behalf of the cabinets of the New Mexico and Northwest Texas Annual Conferences, I am delighted to announce the appointment of the Reverend Dr. Randal Partin as the new Senior pastor of St. John’s UMC, Albuquerque, NM. Dr. Partin will assume the position effective July 1, 2021 with the next round of clergy appointments.

Rev. Partin currently serves as Provost of the New Mexico Annual Conference and under his leadership the conference made great strides in completing the Vision 20/20 strategic plan enabling the conference to fulfill the vision of bringing about passionate, relevant, and life-changing congregations. As Provost, he did an outstanding job of leading the New Mexico Connectional Ministries to a higher level of competence and effectiveness. He led the New Mexico Conference in implementing the Tithing Model, giving the local church the option of tithing their income for Connectional Ministries. He assisted the bishop in developing an effective appointment process based on values, gifts, and graces, and helping church leadership reach its mission field. He served as a leader in Ecumenism, relating to other denominational judicatories and helping to develop a cohesive missional strategy for ecumenical ministries.

Prior to the Provost appointment, he served New Mexico Conference churches in Farwell, Texas and Las Cruces, NM. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Colorado and a Master of Divinity degree from Duke Divinity School. Prior to answering the call to ministry, Randall taught Political Science at the University of New Mexico. Randall and his wife Dr. Susan Brumbaugh have two adult children, Eli and Sophie.

W. Earl Bledsoe announced the appointment of the Reverend Dr. Eduardo Rivera as the new Provost of the New Mexico Annual Conference, effective July 1, 2021.  Dr. Rivera currently serves as the Superintendent of the El Paso District. He currently serves as the Dean of the New Mexico Cabinet.

Rev. Dr. Eduardo (Eddie) Rivera was born in Monterrey, Mexico and was raised in a clergy Methodist family. He received God’s Call to ordained ministry in the summer of 1979 and was ordained an Elder of the Methodist Church of Mexico in 1988. He transferred his credentials to the New Mexico Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1998.

He attended the Lydia Patterson Institute in El Paso, Texas where he learned his English. He earned his Bachelor of Theology Degree from the Seminario Metodista Juan Wesley in Monterrey, México (1985), a Master of Theology Degree (1992) and a Doctor of Ministry Degree (1997) from Candler School of Theology-Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

Rev. Dr. Rivera has been in full-time ministry for almost 40 years in both Mexico and the United States, ministering in the Conferencia Anual Oriental (Mexico), Southern Illinois Conference (now Illinois Great Rivers Conference), the Northwest Texas Conference and in the New Mexico Conference.

Rev. Dr. Rivera attended the 2008 and 2012 General and Jurisdictional Conferences as a Reserve Delegate and he was the Head of the New Mexico Delegation for the 2016 General and Jurisdictional Conferences and for the Special General Conference in February of 2019. He is a Reserve Delegate of the New Mexico Delegation for the upcoming General and Jurisdictional Conferences.

Eddie is married to Hilda, a retired Professional Educator. Their daughter Lizet and son-in-law Derek Dickinson are Attorneys who live and work in Illinois. Eddie and Hilda are the proud grandparents of their 3 year-old granddaughter Olivia.

NM Conference Lay Leader, Sid Strebeck added: “Randall has been a tremendous Provost who has led us to new levels of making disciples and we’ll miss him, but now St John’s will be greatly blessed with their new pastor.  Eddie will bring a new set of gifts and graces to the Provost position and lead us to even greater levels, and Pam will be awesome as the new El Paso District Superintendent.

Once again, I’ve been blessed to witness how well our Connectional system and Appointive process works.”

For more information or questions please contact the Bishop’s office at (505) 255-8786 or email bishopbledsoe@nmconfum.com