Board of Directors

Our leaders have been volunteering in their communities for many years, and they bring with them an incredible ability to lead, inspire and care for those we have the privilege to serve.

With over 50 years of volunteer experience among them, our leaders provide Tennessee Association of Church Related Schools with the inspiration and direction to keep the organization moving forward and expanding in new areas based on our community's needs.

Ron Scarlata

Founder and President 1994-2013

Born and raised in Rochester, NY, Ron came to know Christ late in life, at the age of 45, but that didn’t stop him from making a huge impact for the Kingdom. He founded Family Christian Academy in 1990 and used his skills as a businessman and entrepreneur to serve the home schooling community. He was active politically and moved the whole family to Nashville, TN in 1992 so that he could be close to the capital and work hard to ensure freedoms for home educators. In 1994 he founded TN Alliance and was instrumental in creating legislation that protects rights and freedoms for Christian Education. Ron passed away suddenly in March of 2013, he is survived by ten children, twenty grandchildren and one on the way. He spent nearly 30 years in Christian ministry and the day before he passed, Ron was communicating with the Tennessee Department of Education on behalf of TN Alliance members.  

Belinda Scarlata Vatany

President

Belinda has been in Christian Ministry since she was a teen. Her first job was working for her parents in a Christian, homeschool bookstore at the age of 14. Belinda is the oldest of nine children, she raised and home educated her three youngest siblings for 17 years, was the Director of Family Christian Academy for over 25 years, founded and directed a Christian school, also named Family Christian Academy for 10 years, worked with TN Alliance schools since 1996, founded Home Educating Family Magazine, fostered twelve children and provided each of them with a Christian education. She is happily married to Behzad Vatany, a business owner and entrepreneur, they have two amazing children and reside in both Nashville, TN and Birmingham, AL. 

Thor Carden

Vice President

Thor Carden accepted Christ as his Savior in December 1973, and was called into the ministry March 2003. In April 2003, Thor initiated the Bibles for Soldiers Project, which donated Bibles to the military deployed in Iraq. Thor graduated Cum Laude with a Master of Arts Degree in Religion from Liberty University in January 2005. He served as a Volunteer Chaplain at Tennessee Christian Hospital from 2006 - 2007, holding two services every Sunday morning for the patients. He continues to serve on the board at Family Christian Academy, Thor and Trish are advocates for both Christian and home education. Thor has been the keynote speaker at a number of homeschool graduation ceremonies and he and his wife are active in giving of their time and resources to Christian education. Thor has been married to his sweet wife since 1972, they have three children and ten grandchildren.

Since September, 2008, Thor and Trish have been focused on the jail ministry. Trish and Thor go once or twice a month to the local jail and hold worship services in rotation with other worship teams. Thor realized that this was insufficient to really disciple the men. We developed Bible lessons which we mail to the inmates and they mail back for personal feedback and instruction. They liked the lessons. Soon the number of students was overwhelming and we had to limit it to just the inmates we met face to face in our worship services. In January, 2014 we launched LoveBibleStudy.com to begin to make those Bible lessons available to other jail or prison ministries, particularly pen pal ministries.

Behzad Vatany

Treasurer 

Behzad is of Persian descent, he was born and raised in Iran, his father sent him and his and his older two brothers to America when the revolution broke out in Iran, Behzad was only a boy of 9 years at the time. Behzad was raised on his families’ plantation farm with thousands of acres and thousands of servants to help manage all the duties of the farm, home and 9 children. His father, a very wealthy Lord in Iran, arranged for his sons to receive an education at an elite American private school, for children of notable politicians and Presidents. Behzad was introduced to Christianity when he first came to America and he became a Christian when he was 10.

Behzad’s father was captured during the revolution, his assets, property and all that he had was seized by the Iranian government; this left 10 year old Behzad and his brothers to find for themselves in America. This was the first time in his life he had to work and the reality of having nothing was Behzad’s motivation to work hard to get back to the life he once knew. He worked hard and purchased his first house when he was 16. Completed his business degree at the young age of 17 and started his first business that same year as the youngest franchisee in a fortune 500 company. He surpassed all corporate expectations as ranking top producer of the franchise. In his early 20’s he joined forces with his brother and sister in law and they started their own restaurant chain. He has been starting businesses, investing in real-estate and making a profit ever since. 

Behzad is a man with strong family values, he has a heart for orphans and loves helping others. He is an amazing husband and father, making sure his existence provides a great deal of love and attention to his wife and children. He enjoys traveling abroad and wants his family to see the world first hand and not just by reading about it in a book. In 2011, Behzad was held against his will, imprisoned and tortured while vacationing oversees in the middle East. Authorities believed him to be an American spy and with the help of family and the American embassy he was released to come back home 10 months later. He had never been more happy to see his family and return to the country he calls home. Behzad continues to make investments and the Lord continues to bless his efforts.