Pastor Tim Patoka was born on April 4, 1989 in Cheyenne, WY. Growing up in an active duty Air Force family, he and his older brother, Josh, moved around the country having called home: Cheyenne, WY (6 years); Rapid City, SD (4 years); Tucson, AZ (3 years); and Stafford, VA (5 years). He enrolled at Martin Luther College in 2007 to pursue his lifelong goal to be a WELS pastor. He became bilingual during a gap year (2010-2011) to teach English classes at the WELS mission in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Pastor met his wife, Katie, at Martin Luther College and got married in 2014. Katie was born and raised in Jefferson, WI as the youngest of four in a WELS called teacher family. After serving as a vicar at Christ Lutheran Church in Zumbrota, MN, Pastor graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and was assigned to Grace Lutheran Church of Southern Arizona in 2016. He served as the Youth, Family, Campus, and Cross-Cultural Pastor at Grace’s site in Tucson, AZ. In 2024, he accepted a Divine Call to serve as the sole pastor at Our Shepherd Lutheran Church in Lancaster, CA. He was installed on June 30, 2024 and has been serving there since.

Katie’s and his hobbies include hiking, camping, playing games, playing piano, traveling, and spending time outside.