Reverend Dr. Prince Raney Rivers is an inspiring communicator and collaborative leader who serves as the senior pastor of the historic Union Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina.  Union is a socially engaged, multi-generational congregation of more than 5,000 members.  Each week, Dr. Rivers weaves Scripture and stories from everyday life to deliver sermons that encourage and challenge an in-person congregation and members of Union’s growing global online community. 

Dr. Rivers is a consulting faculty member at Duke Divinity School, and the editor of Alban Weekly, an e-resource in which he writes on a wide range of leadership topics for an audience of 14,000 subscribers. 

Throughout his more than two decades of pastoral ministry, Rivers has built a reputation for leadership development, fundraising, change management, community economic development, strategic planning, intellectual curiosity, and retreat facilitation.  He enjoys mentoring leaders and is passionate about helping leaders “live well and lead well”.

Dr. Rivers currently serves as the 3rd vice-president of the General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, Inc. and as a member of the Board of Trustees at Wake Forest University.  Previously, he served as a managing director with First West End, LLC., a church-owned corporation formed to support a $50 million dollar affordable housing project. Rivers received his Ph.D. in leadership studies from North Carolina A&T State University.  He’s a proud alum of Duke Divinity School and Morehouse College.  When it’s time to shift from work to play, Prince’s interests include indoor cycling, action movies, conversations with family and friends, traveling, reading, baking cookies, and doing just about anything at the beach.