Just A Thought

 On Saturday, May 4, 2024, at 10:30 a.m., many friends and family members will be gathering at Acts II Ministries, in Thompson CT, to celebrate the life of a giant. 

Rev. Terry L. Hardt was likely 5’5” when he passed away on April 23, 2024, but he was a giant to those who knew him. Dictionary.com describes a giant like this: “a person or thing of unusually great size, power, importance, etc.; major figure; legend”, and Terry Hardt fits that description well.

He was a man on a mission to let the world know about the love of Jesus, and he was effective. As a young man, after 3 years of Bible College, he and his wife Dorothy took their first pastorate. Over the next 11 years they would serve as pastor in five churches in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. They also assisted in Washington.

In 1971, he moved his wife and three boys to New England with plans to plant a church in the Boston area. It was new territory for his organization, and he did at great personal sacrifice. He served as the pastor of churches in Worcester MA, Brockton MA and Torrington CT before planting a church in Quinebaug CT, in 1976. The church began in Rev. Hardt’s home and was called Quinebaug Valley United Pentecostal Church. The name was later changed to Acts II Ministries. Over the years the members of the congregation built a building at 1366 Riverside Drive in Thompson CT. Terry oversaw the first two phases of the building project and gathered a strong group of people to help him love New England.

In 1996, at the age of 58, Rev. Hardt transferred the leadership of the church to Bishop John Hanson and planted yet another church in Euclid OH. Terry and his wife, Dorothy, returned to Acts II Ministries in 2018 and continued to lead a neighborhood prayer group until March of 2024. They enjoyed watching the fruit of their ministry spread through the congregation of Acts II Ministries and the ministries the church has helped to establish in West Hartford, Worcester and Storrs.

More history is available at www.ActsII.org/history.

# posted by John W. Hanson @ Thursday, May 02, 2024