Tara Beth Leach
Tara Beth Leach is an American evangelical pastor and author.
Education
Leach was born in 1982. 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. She has a BA in youth ministry from Olivet Nazarene University and an MDiv from Northern Seminary, where she also worked as a teaching assistant for Scot McKnight.Career
Leach was appointed Senior Pastor at First Church of the Nazarene of Pasadena in 2016, the first woman in the role. In 2017, she was the youngest female megachurch pastor in the United States. Since 2023, Tara Beth has served as the Senior Pastor of Good Shepherd Church in Naperville, Illinois.Leach's first book, Emboldened, released in 2017, seeks to encourage women into Christian ministry. Her 2021 book Radiant suggests church leaders need to look at themselves rather than culture to explain the trend away from church attendance.