Joe Cobb

Rev. Dr. Joe Cobb believes that our greatest calling as human beings is to love one another by honoring and celebrating what makes us unique and by discovering what we can create together. This calling both inspires and informs his devotion to public service in the Roanoke city, region and around the world.

Joe is Vice Mayor and a member of the Roanoke City Council. He also works as Chaplain at Hermitage Roanoke, a senior living community in Northwest Roanoke.

A native of Wichita, Kansas, Joe has been a resident of Roanoke, Virginia, since 2001 where he lives with his husband, James, and their two children, Ginny and JJ, both students in Roanoke City Public Schools. Their family also includes daughter, Emma (Connor) Gwin, and son, Taylor. Joe has two grandchildren, Harper Jane and William Brindley Gwin.

Joe is Chair of the Council of Community Services Board of Directors, Chair of the City of Roanoke Gun Violence Prevention Commission, Chair of the City of Roanoke Audit Committee President of the GRTC (Greater Roanoke Transit Company) Board, Vice Chair of the City Council Personnel Committee, member of the City Council’s Legislative Committee, and is a member of the Board of Directors for Equality Virginia, the Roanoke Valley Sisters Cities, the TAP This Valley Works Board of Commissioners, the Roanoke Valley and Alleghany Regional Commission and the Clean Valley Council.

Joe has a Doctor of Ministry degree from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. He also has a Master of Divinity degree from Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, Texas, USA, and a Bachelor of Philosophy degree from Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, USA.

Joe is co-author of Our Family Outing: A Memoir of Coming Out and Coming Through, written with his former spouse, Rev. Leigh Anne Taylor. The book is a unique, two voice narrative of a gay man and straight woman and their journey through marriage, children, coming out, divorce, healing, reconciliation, and creating a new way of being family.