Tami Harris

Tami Harris is chaplain services manager in military relations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Harris worked as a chaplain for 32 years in a psychiatric setting with adolescents. Her work as a chaplain had never required an endorsement from church headquarters. Female Latter-day Saints could obtain endorsements to serve as civilian chaplains in hospitals, education, corporations, hospice care, and prisons — but not, until recently, the military. In 2022, Jenna Carson became the first female military chaplain endorsed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Tami took on a youth chaplaincy when her father, who was serving as chaplain, could no longer shoulder his work in this area and asked her to come with him. He passed away soon after, so she continued her volunteer work for five years until she was offered the position.

She always followed the protocol of being an active member of the Church and letting her bishop and stake president know of her chaplaincy work.

“The Military Relations and Chaplain Services Division had considered me the initial Latter-day Saint woman chaplain as there were no historical records in the office listing a woman chaplain prior to 1989,” she said. “We now know from Dawn Dimick’s exciting and in-depth research, that what was known then, was inaccurate. ... We celebrate Latter-day Saint women in chaplaincy and the inspiring lineage and heritage they have left for us to follow. Dawn’s research is welcome and astonishing.”[1]

With its emphasis on pastoral care and administrating faith services, chaplaincy in many ways reflects the role of a Latter-day Saint bishop — a role held exclusively by faithful male priesthood holders.

Tami has been a Board Certified Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor. She is also a Board Certified Clinical Chaplain and holds a master’s degree in Human Services Counseling Crisis Response and Trauma.

At the 2023 Chaplain Training Seminar, Dimick mentioned early Latter-day Saint female chaplains, such as Emmeline B. Wells, Zina D. H. Young, and Maud May Babcock and the pastoral care offered in the 1880s by nurses of the Deseret Hospital. Camille N. Johnson, Relief Society General President, commented on the parallel between chaplaincy and the ministry of the Relief Society, ““These women, all members of the Relief Society, were doing what the sisters of the Relief Society have always done,” President Johnson said.[2]