The Rev. Juan Čobrda (11 August 1930 – 1 July 2010) was a bishop of the Lutheran church, heading a national church body in Argentina and the

Slovak Zion Synod Slovak may refer to: * Something from, related to, or belonging to Slovakia (''Slovenská republika'') * Slovaks, a Western Slavic ethnic group * Slovak language, an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages * Slovak, Arkan ...

in the United States. He was born in

Príbovce Príbovce ( hu, Pribóc) is a village and municipality in Martin District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia. History In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1230. Geography The municipality lies at an altitude of 420 m ...

, near Martin, Slovakia on 11 August 1930. After World War II his family immigrated to Argentina. He was ordained by the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Argentina in 1958 and served as that church's bishop from 1966 to 1976. In the city of

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...

in 1960 he met his future wife, Žofia. In 1975, he was forced to leave Argentina. He was able to return there in 1978. Between the years 1993 – 2002, Rev. Juan Čobrda served as bishop of the

. He succeeded the Rev. Kenneth E. Zindle. In 1993, he was one of the last ELCA bishops to serve a four-year term. The

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. , it has approxim ...

(ELCA) 1993 Churchwide Assembly extended the term of a bishop's service to six years. On 28 June 1997 he was re-elected. The election took place during the

Assembly, 27–29 June, at Muhlenberg College,

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...

. He decided to resign on 31 August 2002, one year before the end of his second term. Afterwards, he retired and moved to Niles, Illinois. He died on 1 July 2010.Juan Cobrda, Former Bishop of the ELCA Slovak Zion Synod, Dies
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References

1930 births 2010 deaths People from Martin District Evangelical Lutheran Church in America bishops Slovak Lutherans Argentine Lutheran clergy Argentine bishops Argentine people of Slovak descent People from Niles, Illinois Czechoslovak emigrants to Argentina 20th-century American Lutheran bishops 21st-century Lutheran bishops {{lutheran-stub