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American evangelical pastor and author
Tara Beth Leach (born 1982) is an American
evangelical pastor and author.
Leach was born in 1982.
[1] She has said she first felt called to ministry while in high school but was told she couldn't be a pastor as a woman.
[2] She has a BA in
youth ministry from
Olivet Nazarene University and an
MDiv from
Northern Seminary ,
[3]
[4] where she also worked as a
teaching assistant for
Scot McKnight .
[5]
Leach was appointed Senior Pastor at First
Church of the Nazarene of
Pasadena ("PazNaz") in 2016,
[3]
[6] the first woman in the role.
[7]
[8] In 2017, she was the youngest female
megachurch pastor in the United States.
[1] Since 2023, Tara Beth has served as the Senior Pastor of Good Shepherd Church in Naperville, Illinois.
[9]
[10]
Leach's first book, Emboldened , released in 2017, seeks to encourage women into
Christian ministry .
[11] Her 2021 book Radiant suggests church leaders need to look at themselves rather than culture to explain the trend away from church attendance.
[12]
Leach married in 2006 and has two sons.
[3]
^
a
b Bird, Warren (October 9, 2017).
"Youngest Megachurch Pastor? 20 To Watch" . Leadership Network. Retrieved April 24, 2021 .
^ Markus Watson (March 18, 2019).
"Episode 28: Empowering Women in Ministry, with Tara Beth Leach, author of Emboldened" . Spiritual Life and Leadership (Podcast). Retrieved April 24, 2021 .
^
a
b
c
"Tara Beth Leach" . IVPress.
^
"Tara Beth Leach" . Missio Alliance.
^ Steve Carter (August 18, 2020).
"When the Pastoral and Prophetic Intersect:Interview with Tara Beth Leach" . Craft and Character (Podcast). CDF Capital. Retrieved April 24, 2021 .
^
"Pasadena Religious Services Sunday" . Pasadena Now . October 15, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2021 .
^ Shellnutt, Kate (August 3, 2017).
"The Pay Gap Is Worse for Pastor-Moms" . Christianity Today . Retrieved April 24, 2021 .
^ Leach, Tara Beth (September 12, 2016).
"I Don't Fit the Senior Pastor Mold" . Christianity Today . Retrieved April 24, 2021 .
^
"Pastor Tara Beth Leach" . Good Shepherd Church - Naperville . Retrieved April 6, 2023 .
^
"Staff Archive" . Good Shepherd Church - Naperville . Retrieved April 6, 2023 .
^ Ieron, Julie-Allyson (April 12, 2018).
"Tara Beth Leach:A Pastor in Love with the Church" . Northern Seminary.
^ Grossman, Cathy Lynn (March 19, 2021).
"Bringing the 'Nones' Home" . Publishers Weekly . Retrieved April 24, 2021 .