Rev. Luis A. Rivera, Senior Pastor
Rev. Luis A. Rivera, Manahattan Grace Tabernacle’s Pastor, a former schoolteacher, was born in Puerto Rico and raised in the Chelsea area of Manhattan. Upon Graduation from High School in 1967, he enlisted in the Air Force where he served for four years. Shortly after his discharge from the Air Force, he totally committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ on New Year’s Eve, 1971.
Three years after committing his life to Christ, he met and fell in love with Deborah Cortese (daughter of Joseph & Aimee Cortese, missionaries and ministers of the Gospel). Pastor Rivera and Debbie married in 1976 and together attended and ministered at the Brooklyn Tabernacle for many years. Pastor Rivera served as usher, choir member and in the prayer band ministry.
Pastor Rivera served as Associate Pastor at Crossroads Tabernacle and after five years returned to Brooklyn Tabernacle to further prepare for his present calling at Manhattan Grace Tabernacle. Pastor Rivera’s vision for MGT is evangelism — reaching souls with the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the U.S. as well as abroad! His greatest desire at this time is for MGT to purchase its own building, wherein all the ministries and outreach activities he envisions for MGT can be realized. He knows God is doing a great work and that MGT has a role to play in the furtherance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in these latter days.
Pastor and Debbie Rivera are the proud parents of Nina, Luis and Alexis, and even prouder grandparents of Audrey Rose.
Deborah Rivera
Deborah Rivera (“Debbie”), wife of Rev. Luis Rivera for 34 years, mother of three grown children (Nina, Luis, and Alexis) and the proud grandmother of Audrey Rose, was born and raised in Bronx, New York. She is the daughter of Missionary ministers, Joseph and Aimee Cortese, and at a very young age became familiar with the value of ministering the Gospel to a lost and dying world. Her parents were missionaries to Cuba for several years and prior to that, her mother Aimee co-pastored a church in the Bronx, Thesalonica, with her father, Rev. Rafael Garcia.
In her teen years, Deborah traveled and ministered in song with her sisters Damaris and Joanne Cortese (known as The Cortese Sisters). Debbie studied piano at Carnegie Hall and also with the renown and professional pianist, the late Mary Louise Keys Cooper. Debbie serves at Manhattan Grace, not only as Pastor Rivera’s right hand, but she directs the choir, and oversees the Band, Ensemble, and Worship Team in the church. Debbie gleaned so much under the direction under her mentors: Carol Cymbala, (choir director at the Brooklyn Tabernacle), and Ruth Orozco (esteemed choir director and dear friend; more like a second mother to Debbie), from Monterrey, Mexico. These two godly women encouraged and supported Debbie, and have greatly influenced how she teaches conducts her own choir at Manhattan Grace today.
Debbie greatly loves the Lord. Her utmost desire is that through the music ministry many would come to know the Lord and be encouraged. Like Pastor Rivera, her prayer is that the good news of the Gospel goes forth in full force and that Manhattan Grace serves as a haven known for its great devotion to Jesus Christ.
Rev. Ralph Rodriguez, Associate Pastor
Rev. Ralph Rodriguez is one of eight children born and raised in the South Bronx. He and his wife, Denise, were married on November 14, 1981, and have four children: Elizabeth (27), Bethany (22), Ralph Jr. (17), and Daniel (10).
Pastor Rodriguez worked for 31 years at Verizon Communications before his retirement in June 2010 and has an Associate’s Degree in Applied Science from Westchester Community College.
Pastor Rodriguez has been serving the Lord since November of 1988 and has been a member of Manhattan Grace Tabernacle (“MGT”) since its inception in September of 1989. Before becoming Associate Pastor of MGT, Pastor Rodriguez served as a Deacon. As Associate Pastor he gives oversight to the Ushers’ Ministry; he facilitates Christian Foundation classes; he teaches Sunday Bible classes, and he helps direct the Men’s Ministry. For many years Pastor Rodriguez has served, and still serves, as Pastor Rivera’s loyal and much trusted right-hand person.
Pastor Rodriguez was ordained as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in 2007, and in the fall of that year he became the associate Pastor
of Manhattan Grace Tabernacle.