Ray Strauss is the Senior Pastor and co-founder of The Church at Sun Valley.  The church's early beginnings started after Ray and his family moved to the NW Phoenix area in June 2007.  Upon arrival Ray spent the summer surveying communities, meeting people, and sharing the vision for The Church at Sun Valley. 

During that same time, Daniel Scott, Ray's roommate from college and co-planter for The Church at Sun Valley, was sharing the vision for the church in the Dallas, TX area which lead to the majority of support coming from First Baptist Church of Euless and Rockpointe Church. 

The following October, the Scott's moved from Dallas, TX to AZ.  In November of 2007, five families committed to begin meeting weekly for Bible Study in his home.  Shortly after, the group moved to  Daniel's home and finally, in January 2008, the small group that formed the early core of the church moved into Festival Foothills Elementary School. 

Ray is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University with a B.A. in Ministry.  His Seminary education includes New Orleans and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary as well as Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Having been in the ministry for 13 years, he has served in associate and senior pastor roles prior to starting The Church at Sun Valley.

A former collegiate sprinter, Ray still enjoys running and athletics as well as reading, good movies, and playing Nintendo Wii with his wife and three sons.  His great ambition is to lead The Church at Sun Valley to become a church family that embraces the Great Commission (Mt 28:18-20) and Great Commandment (Mt. 22:37-39).