Rev. Byron L. Harris

• Leadership Title

  Assistant Pastor

• Brief Biography

  Rev. Byron L. Harris is the son of Rev. Dr. Stephen E. and Beverly Boone Harris; born and reared in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He is a graduate of Tallwood High School. He went on to attend Hampton University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. After working as an educator for the Suffolk Public Schools, he moved to Madison, WI in preparation to attend the University of Wisconsin to earn a Masters in Educational Counseling. While living in Madison, he joined Mount Zion Baptist Church. It was while at Mount Zion that Byron answered his call to ministry and was licensed into the American Baptist Churches, USA (ABC) to preach the Gospel under the auspices of Rev. Richard L. Jones, Senior Pastor. After preaching his initial sermon on June 26, 2007, Rev. Harris moved to Richmond, Virginia to attend the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University. While in seminary, Rev. Harris was a full-time student and established himself as a student leader, the Dorm Director of Kingsley Hall and the Assistant to the Director of Graduate Student Services. In fulfilling his call to Youth Ministry, Rev. Harris has over 15 years of experience. He has served as a student youth leader at First Baptist Church Berkeley under the late Dr. Wm. D. Tyree Jr. and the Assistant Youth Director at Shiloh Baptist Church under the late Dr. John H. Foster, both located in Norfolk VA. He was then called to be the Youth Pastor at First Shiloh Baptist Church in Mechanicsville, VA where he led a before and after school program and summer enrichment ministry under the leadership of Dr. R. Neal Siler. Still utilizing his gifts and talents in ministry, Rev. Harris relocated to Atlanta, GA, where he served as the Executive Assistant to the Pastor and Youth Minister at Victory for the World Church, UCC in Stone Mountain, GA under Dr. Kenneth Samuel. Rev. Harris believes that he is fulfilling his purpose in ministry by returning to the Tidewater Area. In April of 2013, he fulfilled his call to the position of Youth Pastor at New Calvary Baptist Church. In August of 2014, he completed four units of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) in Sentara Norfolk General Hospital’s School of Chaplaincy Services. At the conclusion of his year of certification, he was hired by the hospital as a Staff Chaplain for Surgery, Trauma, Day Emergency Department and Oncology. In September, 2014, Rev. Harris was ordained at New Calvary Baptist Church in Norfolk, Virginia under the leadership of Rev. Dr. William Marcus Small and was appointed as the Assistant Pastor. Rev. Harris prides himself in being a liberation theologian and believes that he is charged by the Divine to empower young people to walk in the authority and authenticity of who God desires them to be. He also introduces young people to new ways of finding their own personal relationship with the Creator and their own voice. In addition to his work in ministry, Rev. Harris works as a motivational speaker, educator, and spiritual guide through his family-owned consulting firm; Stephen E. Harris & Son Consulting & Associates, a faith based business whose purpose is help and empower churches in transition and to inspire, motivate, and empower people in their personal faith and spiritual journey. Rev. Harris is a member of the Lambda Omega Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., and in his free time, he enjoys singing with the Chesapeake Civic Chorus, cooking Sunday dinner for his family, and spending time with his three nieces: Bryanna, Brooke and Beverly.

• Favorite quote from Bible.

  "Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled"