Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists’ Executive Committee members voted to create a Risk Management department during its Thursday, May 30, 2024, meetings. They also voted José M. Rojas as its first director beginning July 1, 2024. Rojas is the lead pastor of the Houston Central Seventh-day Adventist Church in Houston, Texas.
“Creating this department is something we have been looking at for quite some time,” Texas Conference President Elton DeMoraes shared. “With 354 congregations, 22 schools and around 1,000 employees, risk factors are something we are discussing all the time.”
“We needed personnel specialized and focused on safety to minimize the risks within the Texas Conference and its entities,” Texas Conference Treasurer Randy Terry added. “As insurance costs continue to rise, having a department devoted to risk assessments will hopefully alleviate some unnecessary claims.”
The Risk Management department will oversee verified volunteers, insurance renewals, church and school safety officers and insurance coverages for buildings and church, school and conference vehicles, among other areas.
“It is important that we all do our part,” DeMoraes continued. “From children’s Sabbath School divisions to club ministries to school trips and more, employees and volunteers are engaged in many activities that have the potential for risk. That’s just life. One department cannot be everywhere. When we see something, we need to say something.”
Rojas is bilingual in English and Spanish and joined the Texas Conference as a pastor in 2010. Before that, he held finance positions at Merrill Lynch beginning in 1999. He has a bachelor’s degree in theology with a minor in Biblical languages and a master’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in leadership, both from Southwestern Adventist University in Keene, Texas. He and his wife, Geisi, have two adult children, Tati and Elijah, and a three-year-old, Gabriella.
“We look forward to working with Elder Rojas in this new role,” DeMoraes added. “Please join us in praying for this transition as his family makes a move and the search begins for a new pastor at Houston Central.”
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By Tamara Michalenko Terry, M.A. APR, associate director for Communication & Public Relations for the Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
