Cattle ranch to church leader: Tim Cobb steps up as new president of Spokane LDS Stake

Cattle ranch to church leader: Tim Cobb steps up as new president of Spokane LDS Stake

News story by Nina Culver | FāVS News

The Spokane Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called a new president earlier this month, selecting Tim Cobb as the new spiritual and administrative leader of the 10 congregations in the stake.

Cobb and his wife, Janelle, own Farmland Company, which provides property management services to farmers. Cobb previously served as the bishop of the Spokane 6th Ward and of the Palouse Ward when it was first created in 2015.

“I’m responsible for every member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the stake boundaries,” Cobb said. “I’m in charge of their spiritual well-being.”

While bishops handle most of the physical needs of church members, such as food or other emergency assistance, Cobb steps in there when needed as well.

“I work in combination with and lead other leaders inside our stake boundaries,” he said.

Cattle ranch roots

Cobb grew up on a cattle ranch in the Ephrata area. His parents were converts to the LDS Church in their 20’s and Cobb was baptized when he was 8, which is considered the age of accountability. After high school, he served a mission in Venezuela, spending two years as a missionary. Cobb describes it as a period of growth in his life.

“I’d never even left Grant County,” he said. “I had to learn Spanish and I kept it up.”

He attended Northwest Nazarene University in Boise, spending several years there with his family before coming to Spokane 15 years ago. Since then, he’s been heavily involved in his church, doing whatever he was called to do. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses volunteers to fill positions from seminary teacher to president. Cobb said one of his favorite jobs in the church was teaching 7-year-olds.

Cobb said living his faith is important to him.

“I love the Lord and I have this empathy for the human condition,” he said. “My faith is one that carries me to have a desire to help other people. Part of my faith is service and I just try to serve everyone around me.”

How Stake presidents are chosen

Stake presidents typically serve for nine years. Two representatives from LDS headquarters, both church elders, attended the stake conference in early June to select the new president. Cobb said the representatives are typically given short biographies of people who could serve as president.

This time there were more than 30 candidates, and each was interviewed for between 5 and 8 minutes. The names of the candidates are presented to the stake members, who are asked to give a sustaining vote or an opposition vote. Then the two elders make the selection.

“They kneel down and pray and receive revelation on who should be the next stake president,” Cobb said.

Cobb said the church relies heavily on “continuing revelation” to reveal the will of God.

“Someone comes and petitions the will of God, made known through the Holy Ghost,” he said.

Cobb said he was honored to be selected as the next stake president.

“They chose me to do that, which is humbling,” he said. “I didn’t go to seminary, other than the early morning kind in high school.”

The elders also selected two counselors, also called presidents, to assist Cobb. The first counselor is Phil Huber, a cardiologist, and the second counselor is Jason Richardson, agency manager for the Spokane Family Services of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Cobb’s predecessor passes the baton

Cobb replaced Darrell L. Moseley, who was president of the Spokane Stake for nine years.

“It was wonderful,” he said. “You become so involved in the calling that it becomes a part of your life. All of it is such a fulfilling type of responsibility.”

Moseley said he enjoyed being able to meet and minister to many people during his time as president. He said the job can take between 25 and 30 hours a week and there was no time to wind down as his term came to an end.

“It’s not like retirement,” he said. “You’re going 100 miles per hour until the very end. It’s like passing on a baton in a race.”

He said he advised Cobb to stay close to the Lord and to listen to the way the Spirit moves you. He also prepared a list of administrative tasks and duties that the president is responsible for, many of which he didn’t know about when he took the position.

Moseley said he would often get a gently chiding letter from headquarters reminding him about a task that hadn’t been done.

“I had a list I gave him of the things I wished I knew,” he said.

Moseley said he’s pleased with the new stake leadership and is confident they will do well.

“I was very happy for the people they chose to carry on the work,” he said.

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