Zephaniah started teaching at the early age of 14 in the schools of his native Johnson County. In 1856, shortly after reaching adulthood, he was licensed as a lay preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church South. he gained early prominence acting as county and circuit court clerks. His land investments were successful as well as his speculation in oil. By 1866 he had amassed sufficient wealth that he moved down river to Catlettsburg, Kentucky. At first he entered various types of ventures to become established in this area. In a letter to his brother Shadrack W. Meek, in 1866, he was trying to buy timber to raft downriver, presumably to the Cincinnati, Ohio market. Still deeply interested in his church he established in April 1867 the Christian Observer which later became the Central Methodist. According to the paper's letterhead it started as a 8 page paper but as the circulation picked up the paper improved and at one time went to a 16 page issue. At first the Herald office of Catlettsburg performed his printing, but when Zephaniah did not receive the printing service desired his next step was to purchase an interest in the Herald in 1868. It was at the time of this purchase he changed the name of the publication, which became a foremost religious organ of the Methodist Church South.

Zephaniah continued his preaching and in 1885 KMI conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. Jean Thomas, the Traipsin Woman, in her book the Big Sandy devotes a great deal of space to this gentleman on his ability as a minister and his skill as a mountain story teller of renown. William Ely credits Reverend Zephaniah's assistance in the writing of his 1887 book The Big Sandy Valley. Zephaniah was a most interesting character of the Big Sandy Valley. There is a March 8, 1877 letter by Zephaniah's father, Isaac, which he wrote to his wife on the Central Methodist letterhead. In the letter Isaac tells of his trip down river, the usual chatter about the welfare of his son's family, tells the story of the burning in effigy of a local politician and states "We had a fine dinner on the 4th of March, it was Zephaniah's birthday" which confirms his date of birth. Of interest is the letterhead caption on the terms for Central Methodist "Always in Advance $2". Zephaniah was a Royal Arch Mason. In 1878 he joined the Western Virginia Conferences of the M. E. Church, South and became one its foremost leaders.