Biography Of Doctor Joel Soza
Bio. of Dr. Joel R. Soza (DTh)
Dr. Joel Soza is currently an Associate Professor of Old Testament at Malone College in Canton, Ohio and an itinerate preacher, teacher, and musician. He has also served in a variety of ministry capacities ranging from Pastor to worship leader. Dr. Soza has been a chaplain with the United States Navy Reserve, having earned his commission in 1991. He has held assignments with the U.S. Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard. He was honorably discharged from the Chaplain Corps in Dec. of 2004.
Dr. Soza graduated from Bowling Green State University in Ohio with a B.S.B.A. in 1984 while simultaneously earning an honorable discharge from the enlisted ranks (combat arms) of the United States Marine Corps Reserve. He earned two Master of Arts degrees (both Cum Laude) from Ashland Theological Seminary: the first in Old Testament in 1993, and the second in New Testament in 1994. He also studied at the University of Durham in England in 1994/95 in the field of Old Testament theology, having eventually written a 95,000 word/242 page DTh thesis on the book of Jeremiah. Dr. Soza eventually earned his DTh in Old Testament from the University of South Africa in 2005.
Dr. Soza was ordained to the ministry through the Ohio District Council of the Assemblies of God in 1994. He has served the Assemblies of God as a Senior Pastor, Associate/Assistant Pastor, Youth Pastor, Christian Education Pastor, pulpit supply preacher, short-term missionary worker, and evangelist. He also writes worship songs, plays guitar, bass, harmonica, leads in congregational singing, and is an active student of piano/keyboards and voice. He has written, performed, and home-recorded fifteen original worship songs on CD. One of the songs, Your Perfect Rest, he has released as a single, having had it professionally recorded, mixed, and mastered to CD. It is available for purchase. The song has been selected for Amerecord's "Songs of Praise" CD, released in the fall of 2005, and Hilltop Record's "Heaven is my Home" CD, scheduled for release in 2006. He continues to study the process of recording, mixing, and mastering music.
Dr. Soza has published four academic articles for Inter-Varsity Press (IVP) reference works. A first article entitled ‘Jeremiah’, and a second entitled ‘Lamentations’ were written for the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology and were published in 2000. Two other articles were written for IVP’s Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (TDOT) series. The first of these, published in 2003, was entitled ‘Repentance’, and went to market in the TDOT: Pentateuch volume. The second of these, ‘Jeroboam’, was published in the TDOT: Historical Books volume in November of 2005. Dr. Soza is also an active member in the Society of Biblical Literature and the Institute for Biblical Research.
Dr. Soza’s personal interests include: physical fitness and outdoor/recreational activities, music performance and recording, computers and technology, Spanish language, and general reading in a broad array of subjects. Dr. Soza and his wife Migdalia have been married since 1989, and are the parents of Joseph (born in 1993), and Shari (born in 2001). They presently reside in Louisville, Ohio.