Dien Ashley Taylor ’92, currently serves as the pastor of Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Bronx, New York and is celebrated the 10th anniversary of his ordination in June 2010. He has taught, preached and performed music nationally and internationally.
He has lectured and presented in Lutheran, Christian, ecumenical and civic contexts. He has taught religion for students from nursery school through the college level. He has assisted congregations in parish and school revitalization efforts, increasing opportunities for children, youth, adults and seniors to learn for the sake of serving others in need.
His congregation is multicultural, multilingual and multigenerational and has been recognized both as one of the fastest growing congregations in the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and as a laboratory for future pastors and deaconesses of the church who desire to learn about urban and multicultural ministry. The parish has more than tripled in size since his arrival and has helped people locally in the Bronx and throughout New York City in addition to helping the poor in New Orleans, Darfur, Haiti, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Finland, Peru, and southeast Asia among other places.
He also serves as the vacancy Pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Bronx, New York. He has served as the circuit counselor for the Bronx and Manhattan Circuit of the Atlantic District of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. He currently serves as the Assistant to the Bishop of the Atlantic District in addition to having served The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in various committees and conventions.
He was elected to serve on the Board of Regents of Concordia College in Selma, Alabama and is currently the chairperson of the Board of Regents. He is an adjunct professor of Religion and Education at Concordia College in Bronxville, New York and Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. He served on the Alumni Council of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis and on the Advisory Board of Teachers’ Interaction, the Sunday School magazine of Concordia Publishing House. He has also led conventions as the keynote speaker and the music leader for national and international youth gatherings.
At Townsend Harris, Dien was president of Archon, the community service honor society. He advocated for the construction of the current Townsend Harris High School building before the Board of Estimate of the City of New York and other local community gatherings and he was honored to speak at the groundbreaking of the building.
He graduated from Concordia College in Bronxville, New York (summa cum laude) in 1985, Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri in 2000, and Fordham University in the Bronx (with highest honors) where he was awarded a Ph.D. in religious education in 2005. His interests include religion, theology, liturgy, music, history, art, writing, literature, psychology, philosophy, sociology, astronomy, catechesis and education.
