Juan Čobrda

Who is Juan Čobrda?

The Rev. Juan Čobrda was a bishop of the Lutheran church, heading a national church body in Argentina and the Slovak Zion Synod in the United States. He was born in Príbovce, near Martin, Slovakia on the 11th of 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.

Between years 1993 - 2002, Rev. Juan Čobrda served as bishop of the Slovak Zion Synod. 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 1993 Churchwide Assembly extended the term of a bishop's service to six years. In 1997, on June 28 he was re-elected. The election took place during the Slovak Zion Synod Assembly, June 27–29, at Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania. He decided to resign on the 31st of August 2002, one year before the end of his second term. Today, he is retired and lives in Niles, Illinois.

In the city of Rosario in 1960 he met his future wife, Žofia. In 1975, he was forced to leave Argentina. He was able to return there in 1978.