06/30/2026
El Buen Pastor UMC is blessed and excited to announce that Rev. Dr. Irving Cotto has been appointed to pastor our church beginning July 1, 2026.
Rev. Dr. Irving Cotto was born on Sept. 4, 1954 in New York City and raised in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. He first served as a pastor over a new mission point in Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico. He was ordained as an elder in 1980 and served as the first pastor of Emanuel Church a Latino congregation he planted in 1977. In 1983, he was appointed to El Redentor Church in Lancaster , Pennsylvania where he served for sixteen years.
Rev. Dr. Cotto worked as a part-time psychotherapist at a Mental Health Clinic in Reading, Pennsylvania. From 1999-2008 he was the Senior Pastor at Asbury UMC a multicultural congregation in Camden, New Jersey.
In 2008, Rev. Dr. Cotto returned to the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference as Director of Congregational Development, with the primary responsibility of initiating new churches and faith communities. As part of his portfolio, he also served as Director of Latino ministries.
Rev. Dr. Cotto has served on the Board of Ordained Ministry in Eastern Pennsylvania and the Greater New Jersey Annual Conferences. While in Lancaster, PA. he was a member of the Peace and Justice Coalition, the Board of Advisers for the Salvation Army, and many other community initiatives aimed at bringing change and transformation in the city.
He has served in a variety of capacities as a volunteer and as an independent contractor with several denominational agencies. Rev. Dr. Cotto has facilitated training modules for Lay Missioners, and has written training modules and implemented workshops as part of the National Plan for Hispanic Ministries. He volunteered as a Summer Camp Director with youth and children at Camps Innabah and Gretna Glen, PA. He has served as part of the Course of Study School Faculty at both Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, Tx and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston and Naperville, Illinois. He has also taught as an adjunct professor at Evangelical Theological Seminary, in Meyerstown, PA, Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington D.C., at the former Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, PA (now Palmer Theological Seminary), and at Assembly of God institutions, Global and Vision Universities.
Rev. Dr. Cotto is presently a part- time Clinical Pastoral Counselor at Ministries Center, a ministry of Northern Hills UMC in San Antonio, Tx. He will serve as a part-time Pastor at El Buen Pastor UMC in San Marcos beginning July 1, 2026.
He is a member of the Order of Saint Luke a religious order devoted to liturgical practice and instruction and was founding Prior of the former Spanish language Pennsylvania and New Jersey Chapter. He is presently a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors and a member of the American Counseling Association.
His interests include music, reading, movies, liturgical studies, and traveling. An accomplished musician he has composed Christian songs and leads worship events throughout the country.
He is married to Lilian Lucrecia de Paz, a retired Licensed Local Pastor, church planter, and a national leader in the United Methodist Church. They have three sons, Julio, Andres, and Alejandro as well as three beautiful granddaughters.
