After surviving polio as a young child, Tommy started full-time ministry in 1953, and travelled with his father across the world to Seoul in South Korea.

[3] After his success in Seoul, in 1959, at the age of 26, Reid was named the senior pastor and leader of the Cathedral of Praise, then the Bethel Temple of Manila, the largest pentecostal church in the world.

[5] In 1977, the Buffalo School of the Bible was founded on the Tabernacle campus, training young people on how to become ministers and religious leaders[6] He was named as Bishop of the Tabernacle, a title he would hold until 2013, when he appointed Eagles Wings Ministries founder Robert Stearns as his successor.

[7][8][9] Tommy befriended many evangelists during his time as senior leader of the Full Gospel Tabernacle, including Paula White, Paul Crouch, Jim Bakker, Oral Roberts, Jack Hayford and Benny Hinn.

[12] Bishop Reid is married to Wanda, and has one child, Aimee Sych, who is the worship pastor at the Full Gospel Tabernacle.