Colonel Ralph Bukiewicz began his appointment as National Chief Secretary in January 2023. Before undertaking these responsibilities, he served as Chief Secretary in the USA Southern Territory after serving as Territorial Secretary for Personnel in the USA Central Territory. He also served as Divisional Commander in the former Metropolitan (Chicago, IL) and Western Michigan and Northern Indiana (Grand Rapids, MI) divisions.
Colonel Ralph was commissioned and ordained as a Salvation Army officer in June 1980. Together with his wife, Susan, they have ministered as a corps officer in several communities throughout Illinois (Rock Island, Macomb, Moline and Champaign, IL) and as Genesee County Commander and Citadel Corps Officer in Flint, Michigan. They have also served as Divisional Youth and Candidates’ Secretary for the Midland and Eastern Michigan divisions and as Territorial Youth Secretary for the USA Central Territory, providing leadership for all youth ministries, activities and events throughout the 11 Midwestern states.
As Territorial Community Relations and Development Secretaries, they coordinated major fundraising, public relations, emergency disaster services, publications and visual communications projects for The Salvation Army throughout the central United States. In this appointment, they also oversaw the selection, development, and construction of six innovative Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Centers in the Central Territory, made possible by a national 1.7 billion dollar gift from Joan Kroc.
Ralph and Susan travel extensively, having visited 32 countries and ministered on five continents. They have also been assigned leadership roles for numerous national and international Salvation Army events.
The Bukiewicz family includes two adult children, Jillian and Jonathan. Their ministry extends to a third generation through their four grandchildren, Chloe, Mylo, Roman and Simon.
