"I ask members for their prayers on my behalf, and for their continued support of the church as we stand together in Christ"
By Paul Monteith
"I am deeply humbled by the awesome responsibility that we have," said Joseph William Tkach Jr., 43, in reference to his appointment as pastor general of the church.
"Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ continually blesses and empowers us for greater and greater service, but I did not have this in mind when my dad called together a meeting a little more than two weeks ago."
On Sept. 5, the late Pastor General Joseph W. Tkach laid his hands on his son, Mr. Tkach Jr., and asked that God set him apart for the office of deputy pastor general of the Worldwide Church of God and to bless him in that office and the office of pastor general after his death.
Also present were Gregory Albrecht, Dean Blackwell, Michael Feazell, Ralph Helge, Herman Hoeh, Ronald Kelly, Joseph Locke, Richard Rice, Bernard Schnippert, K.J. Stavrinides and Richard van Pelt.
"It's difficult right now to think about the appointment while my family and I are still in a period of grieving for my dad," he said. "But I will follow his example of following Christ, and of being true to God regardless of the cost."
Mr. Tkach Jr. served as director of Church Administration since July 1992, and was assistant director since August 1986. He and his wife, Tammy, have a son, Joe, 9, and a daughter, Stephanie, 7.
Mr. Tkach Jr., the first of three children of Joseph and Elaine Tkach, was born in Chicago, Illinois, Dec. 23, 1951. He moved with the family from Chicago to Pasadena in 1966, and was enrolled in Imperial Schools. He graduated in 1969 and entered Ambassador College.
During his junior year at AC he served as a ministerial trainee in the nearby Glendale, California, church.
After graduation in 1973 he served as a ministerial trainee in the Fort Wayne and Elkhart, Indiana, congregations, and in 1974 he served in the Detroit, Michigan, West church.
In June of that same year he was transferred to California where he served as assistant pastor of the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo churches. In February 1975 he was transferred again and served the Phoenix, Arizona, East church. He was ordained a local elder in 1976.
Budget cuts later that year led to Mr. Tkach s termination and consequent employment as a child-care worker at Arizona Boys Ranch, a facility for adjudicated delinquents. He also worked as a social service worker at the Arizona Department of Developmental Disabilities.
In 1976 he began working for the state government as a social service worker at an institution for the mentally retarded. He later transferred to the field to work as a community social service worker.
In 1979 he was promoted to evaluate child and adult day programs and residential programs in Arizona, where he was responsible for reviewing services contracted to nonprofit organizations.
During that time Mr. Tkach Jr. was trained as a consultant for the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), and traveled to facilities around the country evaluating their programs.
He received a master's degree in business administration from Western International University in Phoenix in 1984, and went to work for Intel Corp., where he developed and evaluated administrative training.
In 1986 his father, having been appointed by Herbert W. Armstrong as pastor general of the church, asked Mr. Tkach Jr. to come work for the church as assistant director of Church Administration. He was ordained a pastor in April of that year.
"There is noting more satisfying than to serve our Lord," Mr. Tkach Jr. said. "I would like to thank our members for faithfully standing with my dad and helping him proclaim the gospel, and to thank them for their heartfelt prayers and outpouring of concern for him during his illness.
"Now I ask members for their prayers on my behalf, and for their continued support of the church as we stand together in Christ, united by the Holy Spirit. Let us go forward together and proclaim the gospel of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ."
[ Home |