Rev. Dr. Joseph M. Bocko

Holding nearly five decades of professional experience, Rev. Dr. Joseph M. Bocko is highly respected for his dedication and success as a spiritual leader. Since 2011, he has excelled as the director of the African National Ministries Program at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, in which he works to coordinate hundreds of African national communities in the United States involving six caucuses of West Africans, Southern Africans, Eastern Africans, The Horn of Africans: Ethiopians and Eritreans and finally South Sudanese.

Throughout his career, Rev. Bocko was twice appointed to the National Council of No Child Left Behind on Public Education and Literacy, having also participated on the Chicago Development Advisory Council. He was also active on the board of directors for the Developing Communities Project, founded by President Obama, for eight years. He previously served as a pastor of the Metro Chicago Synod of Reformation Evangelical Lutheran Church from 1998 to 2011 and earlier in his career, he served the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania in various posts until arriving in the United States in the 1990s.

Upon becoming an ordained pastor by the North Western Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, Rev. Bocko went on to earn a Bachelor of Theology from Tumaini University Makumira in 1975, followed by a diploma in social pedagogics from the University of Kassel in Germany 1979. He went on to attain a Master of Sacred Theology from the Wartburg Theological Seminary in Germany in 1984 and a Doctor of Philosophy in educational studies from Trinity International University in Illinois in 1997.

To add to his career accomplishments, Rev. Bocko is the author of “Effective Lay Leadership Training,” and is in the process of publishing a second book, of which he has already written more than 200 pages. Reflecting on his abundant career, he attributes his success to persistence, as well as the tireless support of his wife, Jessica. He also credits the mentorship of his parents and teachers, including Professor Linda Cannell, who told him if you see a mountain, believe that you can climb to the top.

Creative Works

Author, “Effective Lay Leadership Training,” UMI (1997); Contributor, Articles, Professional Journals

Civic

African National Ministries Program Director, Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) (2011-Present); Secretary, Developing Communities Project (DCP), Chicago, IL (2006-2012); Appointed Member, Chicago Development Advisory Council (CDAC) (2008-2011); Appointed Member, Chicago Development Community Advisory Council (2002-2011); Pastor, Metro Chicago Synod of Reformation Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA), Chicago, IL (1998-2011); Appointed Member, No Child Left Behind National Committee (2001); Secretary, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT), North Western Diocese, United Republic of Tanzania (1985-1993); Diocesan Youth Director Coordinating Children and Youth Ministry, Over 300 Congregations (1980-1982); Pastor, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT), North Western Diocese, United Republic of Tanzania (1975-1976); Board of Directors, DCP (10 Years); Board Member, Fund for Mission, Metro Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) (6 Years); Appointed Member, National Council of Churches Committee on Public Education and Literacy, No Child Left Behind (2 Terms)

Awards

Lilly Endowment National Clergy Renewal Program Award (2008); Thomas Cornwell Scholarship, Trinity International University (1993); Scholarship, Lutheran Church in America, Minneapolis, MN (1982-1984); Scholarship, United Evangelical Mission and Missions Trip Frohe Boshaft, Kassell, West Germany