About me:

My name is Zachary Taylor, and I am a pastor, teacher, community organizer, husband, father, and jack of all trades.

I started my career as a classroom teacher and advocate for students with disabilities. In 2007, I received a call to ministry that took me several years to acknowledge. I knew that God had called me to a vocation of prophetic justice.

I answered the call as a United Methodist candidate and went to seminary with no formal endorsement from my home conference. In New York City, I was challenged on a level I had never experienced. I came to terms with my own racism, my participation in systems that targeted minorities of every type, but, specially being from the south, the persecution of black and brown people by the police and politicians of that area.

I studied liberation theology under James Cone, and focused my area in psychology and religion. The importance of psychology, theology, and bible as it pertained to communities of color was of great interest to me.

My second year of seminary I interned with the Riverside Church in NYC as the education ministry intern under Dr. Arnold Thomas. In my time there, I was blessed to help Rev. Choi with the Korean Fellowship, run Morning Light worship for a year, and help run the library at Riverside. Having worked at the Library System of Columbia, I had intimate knowledge of organizing and running such operations.

My third year of seminary, I was a hospital chaplain at New York Presbyterian and CHONY as an interfaith chaplain for the HIV wing and NICU. I was blessed, as well, to serve as the on-call chaplain for ICU, PICU, NICU, and ER for both hospitals.

After graduating from seminary, I approached my old annual conference for being a parish pastor. They were furious that I had gone to such a liberal institution and doubly angry that my pastoral work was centered around racial dialogue, community organizing, and liberation theology. So, I dusted off my feet and went to another conference.

I have served in the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church for almost 9 years. I am fully ordained as an elder there despite COVID’s impact. In my time there, I have served as a pastor of discipleship for a large bedroom community of Tacoma, and lead pastor of an elderly church in eastern Washington that I later had to close because of the number of deaths there. I also served as a church planter and community organizer in eastern Washington working with queer communities, Mexican American communities, migrant workers, and the indigent.

I currently serve as the lead pastor of Chehalis United Methodist Church in Chehalis, WA. In my brief 10 months here, I have increased worship by 100%, helped to restore financial health, and even begun to engage in Asset Based Ministry for our church. Currently, we are poised to become a church that confronts addiction in a community that is rampant with drug and alcohol abuse.

I am married to my wife Hanna, and we have a five-year-old daughter named Jehan who will start kindergarten in the fall. In my free time, I like to garden, watch movies, drink coffee, read books, and take naps. I’m also an avid gamer and rank in the top 1% of Xbox players in the world for achievements.

If you have any further questions for me, please feel to reach out!