Meet our Headmaster
The Paideia School of Tampa Bay is pleased to introduce you to our Headmaster, Joe Bray.
Mr. Bray has been married to his childhood sweetheart, Cindy, for thirty-four years. They have two grown children and four grandchildren, the oldest of whom is enrolled in Paideia’s First Grade.
Mr. Bray holds the following academic degrees:
Mr. Bray was ordained to the Christian ministry in 1977 and pastored churches in Illinois and Kentucky for the next fourteen years, during which time he was involved in a variety of church and parachurch ministries, including The Family Foundation of Kentucky. He has lectured and conducted workshops at such varied conferences as the North American Christian Convention, the Illinois Sunday School Convention, the Association of Christian Schools International Midwest Regional Convention, and the annual conference of the Association of Classical and Christian Schools. He was selected as an Outstanding Young Minister at the North American Christian Convention in 1989. He has published theological and devotional articles in several Christian periodicals, including The Christian Standard and The Lookout.
From 1990-2000, Mr. Bray served as the first full-time Chaplain of Lexington Christian Academy in Lexington, Kentucky, the largest non-Catholic religious school in the state (1,400 students in K-12). In addition to a full teaching load, he wrote the entire Upper School Bible curriculum, planned and led Sr. High chapel services, and acted as Registrar for student admissions for the High School.
From 2000-2005, Mr. Bray was the Headmaster of Berean Academy in Tampa. During his tenure there, enrollment grew from 90 to 200, the faculty and staff more than doubled in size, the Upper School curricular program and documents were developed, and the school received its initial accreditation by the Association of Classical and Christian Schools.
Mr. Bray wholeheartedly believes that “God’s hand is upon Classical Christian schools, and that when the history is written of 21st-century America, Western Civilization, and the world, the students who graduate from schools like Paideia will have a prominent place as they humbly and faithfully serve the Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and in Whom we live and move and have our being.”
Mr. Bray has been married to his childhood sweetheart, Cindy, for thirty-four years. They have two grown children and four grandchildren, the oldest of whom is enrolled in Paideia’s First Grade.
Mr. Bray holds the following academic degrees:
· Bachelor of Arts in Christian Education, Lincoln Christian College (Summa Cum Laude – Delta Epsilon Chi Honor Society);
·
Master of Arts in Theology & Philosophy, Lincoln Christian Seminary
(Thesis: The Dark Side of the Force – The Occult in Science and Science Fiction);
· Master of Divinity in Theology, Lexington Theological Seminary (Thesis: God of the Future – The Theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg).
He has also taken graduate course work in Education at the University of South Florida.Mr. Bray was ordained to the Christian ministry in 1977 and pastored churches in Illinois and Kentucky for the next fourteen years, during which time he was involved in a variety of church and parachurch ministries, including The Family Foundation of Kentucky. He has lectured and conducted workshops at such varied conferences as the North American Christian Convention, the Illinois Sunday School Convention, the Association of Christian Schools International Midwest Regional Convention, and the annual conference of the Association of Classical and Christian Schools. He was selected as an Outstanding Young Minister at the North American Christian Convention in 1989. He has published theological and devotional articles in several Christian periodicals, including The Christian Standard and The Lookout.
From 1990-2000, Mr. Bray served as the first full-time Chaplain of Lexington Christian Academy in Lexington, Kentucky, the largest non-Catholic religious school in the state (1,400 students in K-12). In addition to a full teaching load, he wrote the entire Upper School Bible curriculum, planned and led Sr. High chapel services, and acted as Registrar for student admissions for the High School.
From 2000-2005, Mr. Bray was the Headmaster of Berean Academy in Tampa. During his tenure there, enrollment grew from 90 to 200, the faculty and staff more than doubled in size, the Upper School curricular program and documents were developed, and the school received its initial accreditation by the Association of Classical and Christian Schools.
Mr. Bray wholeheartedly believes that “God’s hand is upon Classical Christian schools, and that when the history is written of 21st-century America, Western Civilization, and the world, the students who graduate from schools like Paideia will have a prominent place as they humbly and faithfully serve the Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and in Whom we live and move and have our being.”