Leadership
Meet our Pastor, Our Elders & The Rest of our leadership Team
Hello! My name is David Skinner and I am the Senior Pastor at The River of Life Church. My wife Gena and I met at Texas Tech while attending the Trinity Church College Group, and we recently celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary in December. We have 4 awesome children: Maegan and Andrew Meynig live in Leander, where Maegan teaches high school math and Andrew is a property manager. Alyssa will graduate in May from St. Edwards University in Austin. Our youngest, Reece is a sophomore track athlete at Texas Tech. We have been in ministry for over 30 years and are excited about this new chapter in our life. We have spent the past 25 years in the Austin/San Antonio area sharing the truth of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit in several United Methodist Churches. I am looking forward to humbly serve as your pastor. I firmly believe that God has amazing things in store for The River and we are excited to get to be a part of it.
David Skinner
senior pastor
Our Elders
Glen Gibbs
Elder
Eddy Allyn
Elder
Staff
Valeria Villanueva
Creative Director
My name is Valeria but you can call me Val for short. I have been at The River for about 3 years. I am responsible for all the creative elements at The River. If you are into photography, videography & graphic design email me! I would love to connect with other fellow creatives. My hope and prayer is that our church grows and that we are able to minister to the people of Abilene.
Kristyn Velasquez
Host team leader
Hello! My name is Kristyn. I am a wife to a railroader, momma to 2 busy boys, and a soon to be special education teacher. I love where our church is heading and I have the amazing privelage of plugging in volunteers. I also help by leading Wednesday’s Group!
Isaiah 40:30-31
Nicole Whitehurst
River students leader
Hi! I am Nicole Whitehurst! I am currently working full time and taking night classes to obtain my certified nursing assistant certification. I have the amazing opportunity to coordinate the Wednesday night River Students – grades 6th-12th. I look forward to being able to interact and learn from these amazing kids each week. We start class at 6:30 PM and end at 8:00 PM. We encourage all young adults to come and learn God’s word in a fun and exciting way.
Proverbs 22:6
Megan Whittington
river kids coordinator
Hi! My name is Megan. I am a railroad wife, mom to 3, and a Special Aide at Jim Ned Lawn. I plan lessons for our 3’s & 4’s class, as well as our Children’s Church. I also get the blessing of teaching these lessons to our future disciples during out Sunday Children’s Church and Wednesday Kid’s services, to our 5 yrs – 5th grade. If you ever want to see Gods word from a different angle and hear questions you may have never thought of before; then discuss The Word with a child. You may be surprised what you will learn and how you will help our children’s understanding.
Matthew 19:14
