Prince Raney Rivers

Durham, NC

Prince Raney Rivers is the senior pastor of Union Baptist Church, a multi-generational congregation of 4,000 members in Durham, NC. Prior to his appointment in 2017, he led the United Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem for twelve years. Since being called to the ministry, Rev. Rivers has paired an innovative Chrisitan leadership style with a passion for preaching, teaching, discipleship, and mentoring ministers. He has published blogs and book chapters on leadership and has delivered lectures and sermons in congregations and at colleges and universities, nationally and overseas. He recently released his first book, John, a preaching commentary published by Smyth & Helwys (2019).

Rev. Rivers is a current Trustee for Wake Forest University and is the third vice-president of the General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.  Previously, he served on the boards of the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership and Winston-Salem State University. A current doctoral student in leadership studies at North Carolina A&T University, he holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Morehouse College and a master of divinity from Duke Divinity School. He also completed the Harvard Divinity School Summer Leadership Institute and was a fellow of the Pastor-Theologian Program at Princeton Theological Seminary.