{{Short description|American evangelical pastor and author}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2022}} '''Tara Beth Leach''' (born 1982) is an American evangelical pastor and author.
==Education== Leach was born in 1982.<ref name=youngest>{{cite web|url=https://leadnet.org/youngest_megachurch_pastor/|title=Youngest Megachurch Pastor? 20 To Watch|first=Warren|last=Bird|date=October 9, 2017|access-date=April 24, 2021|publisher=Leadership Network}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite podcast|url=https://www.markuswatson.com/2019/03/18/empowering-women-in-ministry-interview-with-tara-beth-leach-028/|title=Episode 28: Empowering Women in Ministry, with Tara Beth Leach, author of Emboldened|website=Spiritual Life and Leadership|host=Markus Watson|date=March 18, 2019|access-date=April 24, 2021}}</ref> She has a BA in youth ministry from Olivet Nazarene University and an MDiv from Northern Seminary,<ref name=ivp>{{cite web|url=https://www.ivpress.com/tara-beth-leach|title=Tara Beth Leach|publisher=IVPress}}</ref><ref name=MA>{{cite web|url=https://www.missioalliance.org/author/tarabeth-leach/|title=Tara Beth Leach|publisher=Missio Alliance}}</ref> where she also worked as a teaching assistant for Scot McKnight.<ref>{{cite podcast|url=https://www.cdfcapital.org/tara-beth-leach/|title=When the Pastoral and Prophetic Intersect:Interview with Tara Beth Leach|website=Craft and Character|host=Steve Carter|date=August 18, 2020|access-date=April 24, 2021|publisher=CDF Capital}}</ref>
==Career== Leach was appointed Senior Pastor at First Church of the Nazarene of Pasadena ("PazNaz") in 2016,<ref name=ivp/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pasadenanow.com/main/pasadena-religious-services-sunday/|title=Pasadena Religious Services Sunday|date=October 15, 2016|access-date=April 24, 2021|work=Pasadena Now}}</ref> the first woman in the role.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/august-web-only/pay-gap-is-worse-for-pastor-moms.html|work=Christianity Today|title=The Pay Gap Is Worse for Pastor-Moms|first=Kate|last=Shellnutt|date=August 3, 2017|access-date=April 24, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/women-leaders/2016/september/i-dont-fit-senior-pastor-mold.html?paging=off|work=Christianity Today|title=I Don't Fit the Senior Pastor Mold|date=September 12, 2016|access-date=April 24, 2021|first=Tara Beth|last=Leach}}</ref> In 2017, she was the youngest female megachurch pastor in the United States.<ref name=youngest/> Since 2023, Tara Beth has served as the Senior Pastor of Good Shepherd Church in Naperville, Illinois.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pastor Tara Beth Leach |url=https://www.goodshepherd-naperville.org/pastortarabethleach/ |access-date=2023-04-06 |website=Good Shepherd Church - Naperville |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Staff Archive |url=https://www.goodshepherd-naperville.org/staff/ |access-date=2023-04-06 |website=Good Shepherd Church - Naperville |language=en-US}}</ref>
Leach's first book, ''Emboldened'', released in 2017, seeks to encourage women into Christian ministry.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.seminary.edu/news/tara-beth-leach-a-pastor-in-love-with-the-church/|title=Tara Beth Leach:A Pastor in Love with the Church|publisher=Northern Seminary|first=Julie-Allyson|last=Ieron|date=April 12, 2018}}</ref> Her 2021 book ''Radiant'' suggests church leaders need to look at themselves rather than culture to explain the trend away from church attendance.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/religion/article/85848-bringing-the-nones-home.html|title=Bringing the 'Nones' Home|first=Cathy Lynn|last=Grossman|date=March 19, 2021|access-date=April 24, 2021|work=Publishers Weekly}}</ref>
==Personal life== Leach married in 2006 and has two sons.<ref name=ivp/>
==Publications== * {{cite book|year=2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LQ8_CgAAQBAJ|title=The Apostle Paul and the Christian Life: Ethical and Missional Implications of the New Perspective|editor1=Scot McKnight|editor2=Joseph B. Modica|publisher=Baker Academic|chapter=A Symphonic Melody:Wesleyan-Holiness Theology Meets New-Perspective Paul|pages=153–178|first=Tara Beth|last=Leach|isbn = 9781493403516}} * {{cite book|year=2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3mKfDwAAQBAJ|title=Emboldened: A Vision for Empowering Women in Ministry|first=Tara Beth|last=Leach|publisher=InterVarsity Press|isbn = 9780830887583}} * {{cite book|year=2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yHgetAEACAAJ|first=Tara Beth|last=Leach|title=Kingdom Culture: The Sermon on the Mount: Workbook|publisher=Foundry Publishing|isbn = 9780834136168}} * {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ThgyvgEACAAJ|title=For God So Loved: A Lenten Devotional|year=2018|publisher=Foundry Publishing|first1=Dan |last1=Boone|first2=Samantha |last2=Chambo|first3=Tara Beth |last3=Leach|first4=Jeren |last4=Rowell|isbn=9780834137073}} * {{cite book|year=2021|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=thIBEAAAQBAJ|first=Tara Beth|last=Leach|publisher=InterVarsity Press|title=Forty Days on Being a Six|isbn = 9780830847525}} * {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HOH7DwAAQBAJ|first=Tara Beth|last=Leach|title=Radiant Church: Restoring the Credibility of Our Witness|year=2021|publisher=InterVarsity Press|isbn=9780830847631}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://tarabethleach.com Official website]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Leach, Tara Beth}} Category:Living people Category:1982 births Category:Olivet Nazarene University alumni Category:Northern Seminary alumni Category:American Nazarene ministers Category:Women Christian clergy Category:Writers from Chicago Category:American women non-fiction writers Category:21st-century American women