The first service in the Tarata Community Church was held on 7 May 1904. Thirty-six men from the region served in the First World War, six of whom died. After the war, the Paterson family installed a stained-glass window in the church in remembrance of David Paterson.
On Anzac Day 2015 a seedling grown from the Gallipoli oak in Christchurch was planted near the church in memory of the six men who had died. The seedling was accompanied by a memorial plaque which reads:
We will remember/ Tarata Soldiers: James Burr 23/88 NZ Rifle Brigade 16/9/1916; Lionel Fougere 26/100 NZ Rifle Brigade L/Corporal 16/9/1915; Cecil Guilford 10/3576 Wellington Infantry 4/5/1918; David Paterson 11/596 Wellington Mounted Rifles 2/Lieutenant 1/4/1918; Andrew Taylor 23/295 NZ Rifle Brigade Sgt. 23/6/1917; George Taylor 24/301 Otago Infantry Regiment 16/10/1917. They paid the ultimate sacrifice/ World War 1 1914 - 1918.
Sources: Taranaki Daily News, Laird Haper, 29 Apr 2015; Kete New Plymouth: Taranaki Churches, Tarata Community Church, by Mike Gooch, accessed 10 Nov 2015; Kete New Plymouth: War Memorials WWI and WWII in Taranaki, Tarata Centennial Oak and Memorial Plaque, by Ron Lambert, 16 Nov 2015.
Church images: Mike Gooch, 2012; Oak, plaque, and memorial window images: Ron Lambert, Puke Ariki, 2015