Our Leadership

Rev. Dr. Brian A. Cash
Pastor
On January 1, 2020, East Mt. Zion Baptist Church transitioned into its next season of ministry and service on behalf of the LORD God Almighty by calling The Reverend Brian Cash as its Senior Pastor. Relying upon the Church’s scriptural vision statement, Luke 4:18-19, Rev. Cash’s vision is firmly focused on preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, ministering to the saints, and serving the needs of the local community, all with the goal of glorifying God our Father and reconciling our world to Him.
Raised in a Christian home, Reverend Cash’s walk with the LORD began at a very early age when he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior and demonstrated a passion for the things of God. Inspired by his faith in God and his church involvement, at the age of fourteen, Reverend Cash received and accepted a call from the LORD to preach the Gospel and serve the Body of Christ. By age seventeen, Reverend Cash had received his ministry license from Pastor John Snell and the St. John Baptist Church. Between 2007 and 2009, Reverend Cash served as Youth Director of the Calvary Hill District Association of Cleveland, Ohio.
Upon graduation from the Cleveland Central Catholic High School, Reverend Cash enrolled in the American Baptist College in Nashville, Tennessee as he recognized the importance of pursuing religious instruction in preparation for full-time ministry. In May 2013, Reverend Cash earned a Bachelor of Theology degree, having graduated with honors as the class valedictorian and been the recipient of the Josephine Scruggs Scholarship.
Although away from home, Reverend Cash’s heart for Cleveland never wavered. Reverend Cash became actively engaged in Cleveland Renaissance, Inc., a community organization of young vibrant leaders seeking to positively impact the inner-city communities of Cleveland. He also renewed his involvement with Preachers with A Purpose (2008-2014), a group of young preachers seeking to make a spiritual and social justice change in Cleveland through innovative church service and community-oriented events.
Reverend Cash’s thirst for spiritual growth and the benefits of a strong theological foundation, particularly its impact in urban ministry, resulted in his earning a Master of Divinity degree from the Vanderbilt University Divinity School, with a concentration in Black Church Studies. While pursuing his studies at Vanderbilt University, Reverend Cash was actively involved in several graduate student organizations, notably serving as Vice-President of Community Outreach for the Black Seminarians, Good Men, and The Organization of Black Graduate Students. Equally important, Reverend Cash became heavily involved in church-based practical ministry while studying in Nashville.
Reverend Cash had the privilege of serving as the Assistant to the Pastor and as the Youth Pastor and the Collegiate Pastor under the leadership of Pastor Jimmy Greer, Senior Pastor of Friendship Baptist Church. This ministry activity enhanced his pastoral skills as both a church administrator and as a church program director. Reverend Cash ministered to high school, undergraduate and graduate students as well as to young and mature adults in the church body and throughout the local community. During his service at Friendship Baptist Church, Reverend Cash was ordained as a Baptist minister which greatly expanded his opportunities for ministry and service throughout the Nashville area and beyond.
For the past three years following his graduation from Vanderbilt University Divinity School, Reverend Cash has served as the Minister over Children, Youth, and Young Adults at the New Mount Olive Baptist Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, under the leadership of the Reverend Dr. Marcus Davidson. This assignment was successfully completed in February 2020 when the LORD arranged for Reverend Cash’s return to his hometown of Cleveland as the Senior Pastor of the Historic East Mount Zion Baptist Church.
As a minister of God, Reverend Cash is dedicated to encouraging, enlightening, and equipping the people of God to elevate their lives to a higher spiritual dimension where they can better edify the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As a committed lifelong student of the Gospel, today, Reverend Cash continued his theological journey at the Emory University Candler School of Theology where he received an earned Doctor of Ministry degree, with a focus on community witness and leadership. His doctoral studies focused on creating intergenerational story model in single aging traditional churches that seek to bridge the generational gaps between younger and older members. And, finally, as a committed Christian, Reverend Cash seeks to evangelize and reconcile his local community and the world to a proper relationship with God the Father Almighty.

Christa Eileen Cash
First Lady
Lady Christa Eileen Cash has encouraged, equipped, and empowered her peers and others to discover their God-given purposes in life. Consistent with God’s call on her life, Christa is passionate about offering practical strategies to young women to identify and cultivate their identities as daughters of Christ. In Spring 2019, for example, Christa published a blog, “Debunk the Junk,” documenting her challenges as a young Christian woman facing adulthood and how she relied upon the Word of God and her relationship with the LORD to navigate biblically-sound solutions. Today, considering her recent move to Cleveland, Christa is pursuing new opportunities to minister, especially to young girls, college-age women, and Millennials pursuing their own journeys with the LORD.
Christa also has a passion for caring for babies and children. While her undergraduate degree was in psychology, shortly after graduating from University of Miami in Florida, she wrestled with next steps. She soon realized that managing the complex challenges faced by babies and children which are addressed by speech therapy professionals was a very loving and practical way for her to serve. She then pursued a Master of Science degree in Speech Language Pathology from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. After several externships, Christa was employed as an acute care speech therapist at Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, NC. Today, she serves a Speech Language Pathologist for Cleveland Clinic Children’s in the inpatient setting.
In closing, alongside her husband, Pastor Cash, Christa looks forward to honoring God’s call on her life to serve at her new church home of East Mount Zion Baptist Church. She is excitedly anticipating the ways He will use her to reach the heart of His people.