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Prior to coming to Central Rev. Riley served as the Executive Pastor (and Minister of Congregational Care) at The Luke Church in Humble, Texas, (the greater Houston area) where the Rev. Dr. Timothy W. Sloan is Senior Pastor. Rev. Riley gave leadership to the ministers’ and diaconate teams as well as the ministry leaders’ council, provided pastoral care and counseling for their 5,000+ member congregation, served as the liaison to the Senior Pastor and developed strategic initiatives. During his tenure at The Luke Church Rev. Riley revamped and cast The Luke Cares campaign, trained 7 licentiates and catechized 4 ministers and 42 deacons for ordination, established a premier marital and pre-marital counseling curriculum, given Executive oversight to the staff, financial, human resource and operations departments of the church, just to name a few projects

. In 2001, at the age of 15, Rev. Riley accepted the call to ministry at the Calvary Baptist Church of Morristown, New Jersey under the guidance of Reverend Jerry M. Carter Jr., Ph.D., Senior Pastor. Today, he serves as the Conference Director for Dr. Carter’s How Shall They Hear Preaching Conference, a premier intimate space for proclaimers to work on their craft. Visit www.howshalltheyhear.net to register. Rev. Riley regularly facilities at the Issachar Church Growth and Development Conference for Ralph Douglas West Ministries and sits on the Executive Steering Committee for the African American Preaching Conference at Baylor’s Truett Seminary. Rev. Riley has been blessed with opportunities to preach and study across the Northeast, as well as abroad.

Rev. Riley, a native of Morristown, New Jersey was formally educated in the public schools of Morris School District in Morristown, New Jersey and matriculated from the Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and the Master of Divinity degree from the Princeton Theological Seminary. He is pursuing the Doctorate of Ministry degree in Leadership and Preaching at Virginia Union University’s School of Theology in order to pursue the best practices for holistically developing the next generation of minsters who form our communities of faith.

Rev. Riley is the author of In the Shadow of Grief: 21 Days of Discovering God’s Presence in Life’s Valleys. This timely devotional brings together the best of relevant Scripture readings, short devotionals, brief bible studies, hopeful affirmations, and leadership principles to create a transformative daily encounter with the Word of God. This book is designed to push the reader to wrestle with God, ask tough questions and position one to hear from God. At the end of the process, s/he leaves with a clearer understanding of who God is, answers questions about grief, and has a deeper awareness of the benefit of emotional health on leadership, from the home to the boardroom. It is available online at Amazon, Kindle and Barnes and Nobles.

Rev. Riley is the proud father one child, Joshua Anthony.