I have known Pastor Liz for quite some time. When you need someone to lead in women's spirituality & issues, leadership development and scholarship, when you want confirmation that you're under committed and called servanthood leadership, then choose Dr. Liz. You get a great package with a great warrior for our Lord.
Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook | U.S. Presidential Advisor, Former Ambassador of Religious Freedom & Pastor
Some organizations deal with Christian leadership. Some focus on women's spirituality. Some are characterized by intelligence and attention to scholarship, some by a concern for social justice, and others by sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Under the energetic and wise leadership of Liz Rios, all of these strengths are brought together. I thank God for her!
Brian McLaren | Author, former pastor
As a longtime columnist for PRISM magazine, Liz faithfully and persistently amplified the voices that are often pushed to the margins in the church: women, immigrants, the differently abled, the broken-hearted. With courage, vulnerability and wholeheartedness, Liz helped our readers ask the kind of questions we might prefer to avoid but so desperately need to consider: What does the Body of Christ lose when we exclude God's children according to gender or social status...and didn't Jesus come to change all that?
Kristyn Komarnicki | Former Editor of PRISM Magazine, Director of Oriented to Love dialogue program at Evangelicals for Social Action
Dr. Elizabeth D. Rios is an admirable leader with multiple layers of giftedness. She is a repository of years of grassroots ministry experience coupled with formal theological training. The dynamic result of the intersection of the two realities is explosive with the primary beneficiary being the church. A voice of conviction that is so needed today. The fact that she is a woman is just an added dimension as leadership should not be limited by gender.
Rev. Dr. Marc Rivera | Senior Pastor, Iglesia Cristiana Primitiva, NYC
Liz is an excellent administrator. She is detail oriented and organized. Yet, she also delegates responsibilities appropriately. Liz sees "the big picture" and understands the interrelationships of systems and structures. She makes honest assessments of what works, what needs changing, and what needs removal. On the one hand, Liz is a pragmatist, understanding institutional limitations and traditions. On the other hand, she is also an empathic supervisor. People enjoy working with and for her. Even in frank discussions, Liz has the ability to maintain grace-filled patience and understanding. She's a respected educator, life long learner with a healthy sense of humor and common sense. Most importantly, she is a person of integrity and deeply ethical.
Fernando Arzola Jr. PhD | Former Associate Dean, Nyack College
Dr. Elizabeth Rios is a critical rising voice within the national landscape of faith leaders re-imagining church. Latina church planter and educator, Dr. Rios blends decades of practical experience with focused research. She leverages the power of her passion to help church leaders minister within communities of color, especially within the Latinx community. It has been a privilege and a joy to partner with Dr. Rios in the development of the Freedom Road Institute for Leadership and Justice. With creativity and ingenuity, Dr. Rios has helped cultivate a premier faith-based learning community dedicated to equipping leaders to build a more just world.
Lisa Sharon Harper | Speaker, Writer, Activist, Artist and Founder of Freedom Road LLC
Dr. Elizabeth Rios is an urban missions trail blazer! For the last two decades she has emptied herself in serving and educating urban practitioners across cultural, theological and societal lines. A born and bred NYC Latina, Dr. Rios has served as an advocate, educator, missiologist and executive director while never abandoning her prophetic edge and call. She is a general and champion coach for those called to serve the most marginalized and vulnerable among us.
Rev. Dr. Michael Carrion | Founding Pastor, Promised Land Covenant Church & Sr. Director, Church Planting-Redeemer City to City
It is rare today to find within one person a heart for God and His people in such an incarnate manner that you enjoy the awesome bifurcation of God and Man. It is about our daily work becoming God’s daily walk on this earth. Rare but possible for Dr. Rios is a shining example of a collage of rarities that continue to illuminate the many lives she touches. She is a simple, sweet, genuine and transparent person. I have been blessed to experience her as a leader, a friend and a sister. God bless her continued work for and with Him.
Dr. Dale Dan, President | The Joy-at-Work Center (JAWC)
In this historical moment when so many are "deconstructing" and "reconstructing" their faith, it is hard to find Christian leaders who are both sensitive to issues of race and gender in the church, and yet also biblically grounded and centered in Jesus. Rev. Dr. Liz Rios is one of the few church leaders and planters that I trust to help shepherd the local church through this big moment of change.
Dr. Robert Chao Romero UCLA professor and author, Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity
We need more leaders like Liz Rios - she is a leader who 'talks the talk' and 'walks the walk'. Liz is a visionary, a vital and vibrant catalyst for church planting and an important voice in the missional and movemental conversations. Liz is pioneering and sees the big picture, but is also pragmatic and grounded. Her wisdom, drive, humility and insight is a gift to the church and those that come in contact with her, are coached by her, or are supported through her ministry.
Rich Robinson | Movement Catalyst, Leadership Coach, Spiritual Entrepreneur
The Send Institute is honored to have Dr. Rios serve on its missiologist council. Her areas of expertise pertain to the main issues many mission leaders are facing today. She offers indispensable thought-leadership and her voice and ministry are helping to move the conversation on mission and church in North America forward in a much needed direction.
Daniel Yang, Director, Send Institute
Dr. Liz Rios is an articulate, gospel centered spokesperson on issues related to race, gender, church planting and biblical justice. Dr. Rios has come of age and what she has developed into is a very strong voice from the generation x community who is attempting to lean into a life that honors their indigenous experiential faith-based identity but at the same time critiques it, particularly in the area of its adherence to an Anglo dominated colonial theology that has been westernized and does not take into account our own historical political cultural context of oppression. Dr. Rios tries to live and model an integration of her transcendent Pentecostal mystical experience that is filled with wonder and the miraculous with being informed by her academic scholarship, which is both her challenge and contribution to church and society.
Bishop Raymond Rivera | Founder Latino Pastoral Action Center, Family Life Academy Charter Schools, Council for Holistic Christian Churches and Ministries (CHCCM)