Joseph W. Tkach

Joseph W. Tkach
Second Pastor General of the Worldwide Church of God
Born	(1927-03-16)March 16, 1927 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	September 23, 1995(1995-09-23) (aged 68) Pasadena, California, U.S.

Joseph W. Tkach (/təˈkɒtʃ/; March 16, 1927 – September 23, 1995) was the appointed successor of Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God. Tkach became President and Pastor General of the church upon the death of Armstrong in 1986. Tkach spearheaded a major doctrinal transformation of the Worldwide Church of God, abandoning Armstrong's unconventional doctrines and bringing the church into accord with mainstream evangelical Christianity. His son, Joseph Tkach Jr., continued his work and in 1997 the Worldwide Church of God became a member of the National Association of Evangelicals.

During Tkach's tenure, the changes that he implemented stirred much controversy and significant dissent among those who continued to follow Armstrong's theology. The dissenters labeled the changes as heresy and many left to form new church organizations. Within the mainstream Christian community, some have hailed Tkach's reforms, which brought a church from the fringe to orthodoxy, as unprecedented.

He was born March 16, 1927, in Chicago, the youngest of five children and the only son of Vassil and Mary Tkach. The name Tkach /təˈkɒtʃ/ is of Carpatho-Rusyn (Ukrainian) origin, but his parents were originally from Czechoslovakia. The neighborhood where he grew up was composed mainly of blue-collar working people of Russian origin. He graduated from Tilden High School in southwest Chicago. He then served a short term in the U.S. Navy near the end of World War II and afterward returned to his native Chicago. On March 31, 1951, Tkach married Elaine Apostolos; they had three children: Joseph Jr., Tanya, and Jennifer.