In the 1930s Pastor Helen Carl had a vision, a dream to build a church in little Wilmington, California during the Great Depression. It would start as a soup kitchen for the dockworkers, fish cannery workers, and anyone else who needed food and help. This was before the Longshoreman and Unions were organized. The work was hard with very little pay and they were in great need financially. A soup kitchen served the harbor community with a hot meal and encouragement.

During the 1930s the church met in tents and even in an old theater. In 1931 the old theater on Avalon Boulevard just south of Anaheim became their place of worship.

In 1932 Pastor Helen Carl began ministering in what was then called Ye Old Time Gospel Mission. During a period of about 18 months, the church grew. Then Pastor and Mrs. McLain took on the church and the church moved to another location father north on Avalon Boulevard. They were followed by Pastor and Mrs. Martin. In the summer of 1935, a larger tent was set up for revival meetings and at the end of the revival they had enough money to rent a former grocery store, which became their church home. This location provided ample room for growing the congregation.

On Thanksgiving Day in 1935, Pastor Helen Carl was reinstalled as the senior pastor. Under her ministry the remodeling of the old grocery store began. The remodeling went slowly because of the Great Depression. However, because of the prolonged longshoremen’s strike, many men were out of work. Since so many talented men had idle time, they were able to put their time and skills into the church to make it a very attractive church. The church continued to grow in membership until there was standing room only.

In 1937 during Sunday a morning service, a telegram arrived informing the church that their building was scheduled to be torn down. A new four lane highway, now known as Pacific Coast Highway, was being built and the church was right in its path!

The Carls began driving up and down the streets of Wilmington to find a building large enough for their growing congregation. There was nothing to be found. So they decided to search for large pieces of land that they could build a church on. They found a piece of land that would be big enough for their needs along the newly built Pacific Coast Highway to rent for the cost of $10.00 per month. Now where would they get the money to build the church? The Carls decided to ask the owner of their building that was been torn down for the new road if they could tear down the building and use the materials for their new church and the owner agreed.

Everyone pitched in to help. Men tore the old building apart. Women pulled nails out of the used lumber and the children helped stack the lumber according to size.

During the time of construction of the new church, Rev. Thomas of a local African-American church allowed them to use his church on Sunday morning and his congregation had it in the afternoon.

When the labor of love was completed, everyone rejoiced in their beautiful church. Only one last detail remained, the inspector from the Department of Building and Safety had to give approval before the new church could be used. All went well until he was about to walk out the front door. He told Pastor Carl, “I’ll close my eyes as I walk out the front door.” She asked why? He replied that the front door wasn’t as high as it was supposed to be…so he closed his eyes and kept walking.

Ye Old Time Gospel Mission survived World War II. Because of Wilmington’s close proximity to the naval base, the area came under the “Blackout” rule: When air raid sirens sounded, lights had to be dimmed. In order to hold church services, windows had to be covered and only one candle was allowed inside. Even under these conditions, the church thrived.

The Gospel Mission impacted many lives through unconventional methods. For instance, a loudspeaker was installed outside the church which allowed people to listen to the worship while seating in their cars.

In 1947 a new chapter of the church started. Pastor Herbert Ezell along with his wife Edna, and their two sons, Harold and Don, moved to Wilmington and Pastor Herbert started ministering in the church.

In 1948 with the new pastor and the growing congregation, the church starting purchasing land and buildings for future growth at 1551 Wilmington Boulevard, with the new location came a new name: “The Gospel Mission” became “Boulevard Assembly of God.”

Later in 1973, the church name was officially changed to what we know now as Harbor Christian Center. In 1978 the church now had its Christian Preschool. It soon grew into Pacific Harbor Christian School, which expanded to include grades K-12.

Pastor Herbert suddenly passed away in 1986 after thirty-five years of service. Without exception, the congregation was in agreement that they wanted his son and daughter-in-law, Don & Linda Ezell, as their new pastor.

Fires couldn’t cripple the church. One in 2007 and the other in 2008, destroyed most of the church, but the mission of the church was undaunted. Even through the destruction of the fires Harbor Christian Center continued to grow with leaps and bounds. They held services in a tent for nine months during the rebuilding. In 2009 the doors opened again to the newly remodeled church.

2017 marked sixty-one years the Ezell family had the honor of leading Harbor Christian Center, which is amazing for the average church changes pastors every three to five years. That same year, the health of Harbor Christian Center’s beloved Pastor Don began to decline. While Pastor Don stepped back from the day-to-day operations of leading the church, he remained involved until his passing in 2021.

Now in 2018 once again the mantle of leadership for Harbor Christian Center was passed on to the next generation, longshoreman and pastor, Louie & Sandra Trevino.

From this simple and obscure beginning Harbor Christian Center has grown into a church that has not only impacted the South Bay region, but also has had global influence through missionary work.

This year, Harbor Christian Center is celebrating its 90th Anniversary. It began as an outreach ministry to longshoreman and today its pastor is a longshoreman.

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