Terry L. Harris was raised in a strong Baptist home in Vancouver, Washington. He received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior at the age of seven and was very faithful to his Baptist roots throughout his high school years.
He entered the University of Puget Sound in 1972 with a football scholarship, majoring in Business and a double minor in Psychology and Religion. Upon graduation in 1976, Terry took a job with the US Treasury as a Federal Auditor. During his travels around the country he became a very serious student of the Bible and began to learn more about Christianity.
He met his wife, Georgina, at UPS where she was also a student. They married in March of 1978. They were blessed with a son, Timothy, in January 1985.
While living in Seattle, Washington, the Lord came to him and called him to the office of Pastor. In March 1980, he received his license from St. John’s Baptist Church. In March 1981, he received his ordination papers. Shortly after that he left the Baptist church and with seven people started Tacoma Christian Center. The real change in Terry’s life took place when he was baptized in the Holy Ghost. He had come to the place in his life of total confusion over the baptism, gifts of the spirit, speaking in tongues, and the struggle between Baptist and charismatic. He fasted and prayed for two weeks seeking an answer and on the fourteenth night in the living room of his apartment he received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.
Tacoma Christian Center is a non-denominational spirit-filled church. It is located in the heart of the inner city. Taverns, gangs, drugs, violence are all around the church. Pastor Harris has led the body into an all out war on Satan and all forces of evil. The church believes this land belongs to God and His people. God has not disappointed us. His faithfulness has carried us from victory to victory and He gets all the credit for the success of Tacoma Christian Center. Pastor preaches and teaches the uncompromising word of God. His ministry is taking back the land. Tacoma Christian Center has taken over two taverns and five pieces of property. We take what once belonged to Satan and turn it into blessings for God’s people.
Pastor’s Vision
“Where there is no vision, the people perish…” Proverbs 29:18
This is my vision for Tacoma Christian Center that the Lord established in my spirit in January,1985:
Thousands will experience the new birth (be born again), receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and hundreds will unite with Tacoma Christian Center each year. Every member will live the victorious and abundant life that God wants for all of His children. Each service will be full to capacity for the teaching of the gospel.
The congregation will consist of every racial group, Blacks, Whites, Asians, Indians and Hispanics fellowshipping one with another in unity and love. The youth will be trained in the ways of the Lord.
A television ministry will cover the Puget Sound area, the state, the Northwest, West Coast, western United States and then the world. We will also have a radio ministry.
We will have a 3,000 seat sanctuary, day care center, food bank, clothing bank, half-way house, library, preschool, K-12 school, Bible Training College for adults, multipurpose building, office building, gymnasium, racquetball facility, swimming pool, weight room, saunas, aerobics classes and arts & crafts. A staff will be hired to run the Center.
We will train license and ordain men and women called to the pulpit ministry. They will be sent out under Shield of Faith Ministries to evangelize the world. Pastors, under my direction, will build Shield of Faith Christian Centers throughout the United States and the world.
Other gifted and talented musicians, actors, actresses, singers, comedians, etc., will spread the gospel throughout the world. We will build a Christian Entertainment Center and restaurant.
When the Lord returns for the rapture of His church, Tacoma Christian Center and its subsidiary, Shield of Faith Ministries, will have believers throughout the world affecting lives for the kingdom of God.