In the spring of 1988, North Tacoma Young Life sponsored a training fellowship for UPS freshmen led by John Lewis that met in the living room of a local family. Their initial focus was on creating a supportive environment for leadership development, but seeing the broader potential of a campus-wide ministry, the fellowship opened itself to students in 1990. Four years later, Tacoma College Ministry was formed as an independent non-profit.

In the spring of 2001, Lewis stepped down from his role, and Joe Springer took the helm. Joe led TCM through many of the challenges that similar ministries faced during the early years of the new millennium. He served for four years before passing the baton to Kristy Roberts, Christy Fisher, Max Fletcher, Rev. Tad Monroe and Casie Danielson, each of whom served between 2005 and 2011. Cody Lail began as the director in 2011 and brought stable leadership to the ministry for six years. In Summer of 2017, Christy Fisher returned to TCM as the director and continues to serve here today.

This is only a brief glimpse of the larger story of Tacoma College Ministry and Lighthouse. The more important stories are those lived by every student touched by Lighthouse and TCM since 1988. These stories continue as our alumni build lives of service in our communities, changed by a ministry that has been committed to walking the long road of discipleship with the young adults of Tacoma.