Director of Mission, Service, & Justice Ministries
avega@riotexas.org
Abel Vega, Jr. currently serves as Director of Mission, Service, and Justice Ministries for the Rio Texas Conference. In this role, he serves as staff liaison to the Transforming Communities Vision Team –
which envisions the ministry of mission, service, and justice within the Rio Texas Conference.
Current portfolio work of the office includes the development of the Transforming Communities of Praxis learning cohort program and Community Development Network, network and infrastructure development of immigration / migration response and border ministries, and general outreach and mission ministry resourcing and support for local churches and communities of the Rio Texas Conference.
He previously served as the Director of Connectional Ministries for the Rio Grande Conference for ten years. Aside from general program administration duties, many of his responsibilities revolved around resourcing the conference through deep systemic change as well as resourcing the unification process of the Rio Grande and Southwest Texas conferences’ work in becoming the Rio Texas Conference.
His learning and formation in outreach ministries began in 1985 through involvement in local church youth ministries and through the development of a Children’s Sidewalk Church School program and summer and after-school programming for children and youth that eventually became a non-profit entity serving families on the west side of San Antonio and beyond.
In 1983, Vega graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture. Prior to his full-time work with the church, Vega worked on residential and commercial projects for various architectural firms in Houston and San Antonio.
He also served as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer working on building renovation projects in the Philippines. He lives in San Antonio with his wife Ann and two daughters, Elizabeth and Annabella.