Leadership
Pastor of The Truth Church
Gregory K. Riggen
Pastor Riggen was born in Lafayette, Indiana in 1960. The middle son of non-Christian parents, he grew to be the product of a very turbulent decade. God had plans for him, however, and the dramatic change that resulted is well worth finding out.
He first visited an Apostolic Pentecostal Church at the age of 11. Although his parents were very much against it, they did not stop him from going. Therefore, he continued to attend. He received the Holy Ghost and was baptized in Jesus’ Name when he was 12, and subsequently led his father, mother, two brothers, and 77 year-old grandmother to the Lord. He felt a call into the ministry that summer. Approximately one year after his conversion, he preached his first message on a Wednesday night at the age of 13.
Upon completion of High School in Dallas, Texas, Pastor Riggen enrolled at Texas Bible College in Houston. While there, he traveled with the ensemble under the direction of Dan Dean. He also served as Editor of the “TBC Pioneer” (the school’s yearbook) and was elected President of his senior class. He graduated as Valedictorian with a grade point average of 4.0. After receiving his Bachelor of Theology degree, he entered into full-time ministry, teaching in the private school of Reverend Wayne McClain in South Houston. Two years later, at age 24, he was elected as pastor for the Tatum Pentecostal Church in Tatum, Texas. Since that time, he has served as pastor in Aransas Pass, Texas, Cañon City, Colorado, Jayess, Mississippi, and Olathe, Kansas.
In 1988, Pastor Riggen published his first book, “The Madness and Method of Modern Music.” He has written numerous articles, and has written several lessons for Word Aflame Publications (for both the Adult and Elective Series). More recently, he developed two in-home Bible studies (“Do All Speak with Tongues?” and “Calling On the Name of the Lord”) and written two books on doctrine (“Understanding the Godhead” and “Understanding the New Birth”), all of which are available on our church website.
Although no longer affiliated with the United Pentecostal Church, Pastor Riggen held a number of positions with that organization during his more than 25 years as a member. These include Youth Camp Teacher, Youth Camp Principal, Sectional Foreign Missions Director, Sectional Secretary, and District Home Missions Secretary. For six years, he served as the Kansas District Sunday School Director and Newspaper Editor. In May, 2002, he was elected as the District Secretary, a position which he held until March of 2004. At that time, he was elected to serve as Superintendent of the Kansas District UPC, a position he held until May 2007.
For a period of time, Pastor Riggen served on the Human Relations Commission for the City of Olathe, including the position of Vice-Chairman. In this capacity, he was very involved in overseeing race relations for the city and making certain there were no instances of racial bias or prejudice in any of the city’s activities.
In 2013, Pastor Riggen was invited to the nation of Zimbabwe to address a number of Trinitarian Pentecostal pastors. At the end of that meeting, more than 50 pastors and wives were baptized in Jesus’ name. As a result of that endeavor, Pastor Riggen founded A2Z Missions, which has since gone into the countries of Botswana, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zambia. Literally hundreds of pastors have received the revelation of the Mighty God in Christ and have been baptized in the name of Jesus because of the teaching they received at his conferences. A2Z has also purchased a property in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe where they conduct further training for these converted pastors.
Pastor following a baptismal service in Johannesburg, SA – 2018
Here in America, Pastor Riggen has been instrumental in the planting of “daughter works” in the Kansas City metropolitan area. One example is The Truth Church of Linn Valley, pastored by one of his “sons in the gospel,” Reverend Brandon Hilton. Pastor Riggen’s vision is to plant many more churches throughout the greater Kansas City metro while continuing to oversee the work in Olathe. With that in mind, he is actively involved in training and equipping a number of other ministers in the local assembly.