Terry was born in Chicago, but lived here in Southern California since his teen years, he came to know Christ as a teenager, traveled to England on a missionary trip and moved to the Sunland area to become the youth pastor of a newly established church in 1979. In the years following, he became the senior pastor, and later, merged the church with another congregation in the city of San Fernando.

 

In his early pastorate, he established a private school for families who teach their own children at home which has served over four thousand students. This private school, Sunland Christian School, was granted special status in helping establish the legality of home school through a California Appellate Court case in 2008. He founded the National Independent Study Accreditation Council in 1996, which provides third party accountability to home school programs throughout the United States, and serves as it executive director. In the earlier years, Terry produced and hosted "Educating Our Children" a weekly radio broadcast for nine years on a local religious fm station, KFSG.

 

He holds a Bachelor of Theology degree, is an ordained minister and a certified celebrant (serving families in grief throughout the valley). He studied at Fuller Seminary, working towards a Marriage Family Child Counseling degree. He and Laura also have a small business, Creative Memories, producing tribute videos for families who have lost a loved one. 

 

Laura was born in San Fernando and raised in Sylmar, California and graduated from Sylmar High. She became a preschool teacher and earned a degree in child development. She grew up in a local church in San Fernando and served in every capacity during her time there. She sang in the choirs since childhood, taught Sunday School, provided children sermons, was a Women's Spiritual Devotion leader, member of the Education Committee and assisted the pastors as a Licensed Lay Speaker and studied to become a local pastor. She periodically would help to design the worship and preach on Sundays.

 

She had also created a Senior outreach program, and worked as a care giver for senior citizens. Along with her mother she assisted in developing a girl’s weekly homemaking program, "Sunshine Girls," which served young girls through teenagers for seventeen years. She had developed many other programs in the church and served on several committees within the church. She also was a member of the leadership council at a local public elementary school.

 

Together, Terry and Laura are very personable and will work with the congregation at MCC in providing spiritual leadership by ministering to the families of the church and reaching out to the surrounding communities with a message of hope and love. They invite any one looking for a church to come and meet them, or visit the Sunday Service at 10:00 am, 2416 Montrose Ave., Montrose, CA 91020. One can also "Like" them on Facebook, by searching for Montrose Community Church. If you have any questions, or would like to talk with Terry or Laura, they can be reached through the church at (818) 488-4375 or by email at montrosecommunitychurch@gmail.com.