Gary Rivas was born in Germiston, near Johannesburg South Africa. Early on in his life, he felt a calling to ministry and has since been in the ministry as part of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa for over 20 years. Gary met his wife, Jacqui in 1987 and they were married in 1992. Jacqui also became an ordained Methodist Minister in 2003. In 2004, Gary and Jacqui planted Gracepoint Church together and have led it from strength to strength. Gary served as the superintendent of Fourways from 2007- 2015 and was elected as Bishop of the Central Synod of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa in 2015.