Thursday Afternoon, June 20 at 2 p.m.

Rodrigo was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico where he practiced criminal law for several years before transitioning into full-time ministry in 2006.

After moving to the United States with his family, he joined the North Georgia Conference while serving at Northbrook UMC, the church that the Cruz family dearly loved and consider their home church.

During this time, Rodrigo received his Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary in 2012, became an Ordained Elder of the United Methodist Church in 2015, and received his Doctor of Ministry in Church Leadership Excellence from Wesley Theological Seminary in 2016.

In January of 2016, Rodrigo and his family launched, in their living room, a multi-ethnic movement of faith called The Nett Church, located in Gwinnett County, Georgia. The vision of the church is for Nations to Experience Transformation in Jesus Together, while reflecting on Sunday mornings the diversity of the school systems from Monday through Friday.

In 2020, Rodrigo was appointed also as the District Superintendent of the Central East District in the North Georgia Conference overseeing churches in Gwinnett, Barrow, Walton, Oconee, and Clark County, while continuing to lead The Nett Church.
In 2022, The Nett Church was voted by the Outreach Magazine as one of the top 100 reproducing churches in the country. Currently the church is doing ministry in 5 unique campuses across Gwinnett County.

In 2019 and 2023, Rodrigo was voted by the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as one of the 50 most influential Latinos in the State of Georgia.

Rodrigo is married to Kelly, a California native and Preschool Director, and together they have 5 children RJ (18 years old), Natalia (15 years old), Gabriel (12 years old), Benjamin (9 years old) and Jona (4-year-old).

Rodrigo’s hobbies are his children and he is constantly trying to pick up whatever interests and passions they have so he can stay constantly engaged in their lives.