The teacher and the student follow the same path.
Staff
Josh has been involved in education for twenty years. He taught history for thirteen years at Lancaster High School, where he was department chair, served on the School Improvement Council, and coached cross country and baseball. He was a two-time nominee for Lancaster County Teacher of the Year. He has since taught high school seniors with Classical Conversations for five years in a wide variety of subjects including Physics, Calculus, Latin, History, Theology, and Ancient Literature. He has spoken on education, theology, and culture at conferences across the country and has written for a variety of publications including Classical Lutheran Education Journal, Classis, LOGIA, The Lutheran Witness, Modern Age, Modern Reformation, Public Discourse, Salvo, and Touchstone. He is the author of the book Education’s End: Its Undoing Explained, Its Hope Reclaimed, and co-author with Robin Phillips of the book Are We All Cyborgs Now? Reclaiming Our Humanity from the Machine. He began his vicarage at All Saints in September 2023 through the SMP Program, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne. In January of 2026 the congregation expanded his role to include being headmaster. Prior to his studies at CTSFW, he received a B.A. in Christian Ministries at Messiah University (2004) and a M.A. in Teaching with a focus in History from Winthrop University (2008). He is a credentialed teacher and has completed additional graduate level classes in education, history, theology, and ancient Hebrew through Andrews University and Reformed Theological Seminary.
Pastor Ware is originally from California, and is a graduate of Concordia University, Irvine, CA (B.A.) and Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN (M.Div.). He served his vicarage at Living Word Lutheran Church, The Woodlands, TX, and was later called there as Assistant Pastor, where he specialized in youth/young adult ministry, outreach, and homebound service. He also served as a deployed mission pastor for Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Houston, TX. He has been pastor at All Saints in Charlotte, NC since 2014. Pastor Ware serves on the Board of Directors for Higher Things and has served as speaker, chaplain, and catechist at numerous Higher Things conferences. He also served as zone counselor for the LWML and as youth director for Thrivent Financial as part of the Piney Woods chapter board. He has written for The Lutheran Witness and Higher Things. He serves in an advisory capacity for two church-plant mission starts in the greater Charlotte area. He also enjoys spending time with his family outdoors, camping, hiking, and fishing, and is an avid home chef and home brewer. His theological interests are primarily in the realm of practical ministry, including catechesis, pastoral care, homiletics, and liturgics. He is husband to his loving and dedicated wife Alysha and father to three blessed children, Kaylin, Gordon, and Owen.
Joelle attended a small, classical Christian school for 8 years in her youth and appreciates education rooted in truth, goodness, and beauty with the goal of forming the whole person in mind, body, and soul. She is a credentialed teacher who received a B.A. in English Secondary Education from Anderson University (2013). Joelle has 12 years of education experience, both in the public school setting and as a private tutor. She taught English and Public Speaking at Fort Mill High School, while also serving as a teacher for homebound students. She also coached track and cross country, and later served as the Girls Varsity Soccer head coach for 5 years, winning Region Coach of the Year honors in 2022. After stepping down from Fort Mill High School to start her family, she has continued to share her gifts and love for education as a private tutor for elementary, middle, and high school students in a wide variety of subjects including English, Math, Science, History, and SAT/ACT Prep. Additionally she uses her gifts and passion for athletics as an assistant Athletic Director at Fort Mill High School. She is also the proud mother of three young children.
Kristi has been classically homeschooling her two daughters for over ten years, and has also been a tutor for Classical Conversations during that time, teaching students ages 7-16. She has taught elementary, middle, and high school subjects as wide-ranging as Math, Science, Grammar, Writing, Logic, Literature, and Latin. She was the 2023 recipient of the Classical Lutheran Exemplar Excellentiae Domi Award, given by the Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education (CCLE) for excellence in homeschool education. Prior to homeschooling, she worked as an elementary school counselor and was the 2008-2009 Pageland Elementary School Teacher of the Year. She has served as a coordinator for Homeschool Testing Services, organizing and proctoring Stanford 10 and CLT end-of-year assessments. Kristi also coaches high school cross country and track. She is a credentialed teacher and received a B.A. in Psychology with a Minor in Computational Math from DePauw University (2001) and a M.Ed in School Counseling from Winthrop University (2006).