Pastoral Team
Audrey
Hello, pastors. Thanks for joining me today. For the annual report this year, I wanted you to share some reflections on 2021. And how this year was for you. So the first question I have is where have you seen God at work this year?
Pastor Hector
That's an excellent question, Audrey. God has been in 2021, surrounding, not only TUC, but I believe the staff. And personally, myself, and my own family, we added a member to our family, we experience so much moving at 2021 was a year where we felt that God was being present in the midst of uncertainty, and was surprising us along the way. It was a year of adapting to the COVID realities. And at the same time, it was a those good those that overall, I realized that in spite of how crazy and turbulent things were, the uncertainties that we were experiencing, that I had reliance that God was going to be there, whether it be when in-person gatherings were closed, the live stream had technical difficulties, to Pastor Steve being away, to the closing of many, many events. Then in spite of that, we could still be the church, still, be faithful to God's ministry, and just open to the spirit, whatever, wherever that led us. And it led us to a remarkable place that I feel has made us as a church much stronger.
Audrey
Thank you, Pastor Hector, what about you, Pastor Steve?
Pastor Steve
Yes, thank you for that question. I have also had a strong sense that God is with us at TUC - and moving us. I feel like the year before, the first year of the pandemic, was a time where we were looking ahead to an uncertain future, and kind of trudging up this mountain, but always looking back and hoping we can get back down to the valley or to where we came from. But I feel like this last year, God pushed us over the top of the mountain. And we've been led to a new place where 2021 helped us realize that this is not temporary; the world has changed, and the church must change. And then God gave us evidence of how things are changing, how we can change. We've learned to connect in different kinds of ways. We've had to lose some things. There are some things we dearly miss. But we've also gained some things. And I've been so encouraged, even just in the last weeks and months to realize how many people have been connecting with each other and with the church online, and worshiping with us and now in the past few weeks coming to church, and there are so many new people that are so happy to be here and be together. I feel like God has brought us to a new place and helped us believe more firmly that we're not going back to exactly how it was, but that the new land is filled with promise and new possibilities. And so I feel like it's a gift to the church because it can be really hard for churches to let go of things that are beloved traditions and programs because we've seen God work in them. And we were so grateful and we want to do it again. But this past year has helped us realize some things are gone. I mean, we've got to let them go. But other wonderful things can happen in their place. So I feel like we've really moved in 2021. 2020 was a year of big shakeup and change. But it was different. We only had pastor Hector for a few months in 2020. But now he's blessed us with new things for the whole year. So much has changed that I'm actually far more encouraged and excited, less scared, and really more eager for the future after this past year.
Audrey
Thank you, Pastor Steve, I also want to ask what this year has been like for you personally - if there have been any blessings or challenges that you would like to reflect on from this past year. How about you, Pastor Hector?
Pastor Hector
Yeah, so I believe one of the biggest blessings, has been connecting with the pastoral Investigations Group. It's a group that meets regularly on Wednesday afternoons, and we've looked at classic texts, Christian texts like Saint Augustine's Confessions and Bonhoeffer's, the cost of discipleship. And more recently, we turned to this thing I called Technology and the future, where we look at how churches and the church global is kind of adapting to the technological advances. So we went spend some time looking backward and spent some time looking where we're at now and looking forwards. And it's been a really great time to get to know everyone who is involved in that group, meeting regularly, and able to discuss things that have been kind of significant, and see how people have changed and how God is speaking to them. In mists of the, the, over the air, and the particular challenges that have occurred, or blessings and joys, and have something to kind of reflect on in the middle of the week, that has been a pure joy, a challenge that, for me that has, has been challenging, but an area of growth has been my ability to adapt to the COVID-19. I remember, as delta was kind of down, we're calling back into the sanctuary. And then the rise of Omicron happened and it felt kind of like a regression of sorts. And that was kind of disheartening. But I still think it's built some sort of resilience, and that we are able to make it through this last wave. And we're still dealing very much with the Omicron variant. But, you know, being used to the uncertainty and being constantly looking for adaptation has been an area of growth. For me personally.
Audrey
Yeah. Thank you. Pastor Steve, how about you?
Pastor Steve
Well, one highlight for me has also been an online group. There's a group of people that for months now have been gathering on Thursday morning at 8 am to do a simple process, a simplified process of Lectio Divina, or “divine reading” – prayerful reading of Scripture - in a group setting. And it's been transforming for all of us. I enjoy it so much; we just met this morning. And I hear the Bible in fresh ways through the ears of others in the group. And we all have this experience of leaving after spending 45 minutes together and we're refreshed and centered. Just this morning people were talking about how it's changed their whole day, their week, how it's helped them at work, they are more centered, they can tackle the harder things at work on those mornings after this, because they're spiritually prepared. So all this has happened online. And it's been very, very encouraging. I would love to do it in person and hope we can. We're talking about expanding and doing more groups. It's been a wonderful discovery for us this year. That's just one example of ways that we've adapted. I feel like we've done some challenging things in worship and music, and our musicians have been amazing. And all across the board, people have been creative so that's been a real highlight – that we've continued to try to be innovative in the second year of the pandemic. So that's all very encouraging to me. It makes me very, very proud of our congregation.
One of the huge personal challenges of 2021 was that both of my parents died. And it was a huge, huge huge loss in so many ways. It was very difficult not to be with them during the last year and a half of their lives. And one of the hardest things about coming to Tokyo in 2020 was leaving them when I knew that they didn't have a long time to live. But my parents did bless us on our way when we left, and we were able to stay in touch because of digital technology. And through amazing timing and circumstances that we have to believe God worked out, I was able to see them before they died and spend significant time with them in their last days. And that Pastor Hector and you were here to carry things when I was gone more than I’d expected – God worked things out. And there's also been a great blessing in their passing in that I now have this tremendous comfort about their wellness, and I no longer – you know, for almost two years, I lived with the daily sense of “I wonder how they're suffering today” or “I wonder if today's the day you will get the call” or always thinking, “I wonder how in planning things I might have to be gone very quickly.” And to have that be past now is actually a gift. I'm so grateful they're not suffering any longer and glad that we don't worry about each other anymore. And it's been really very freeing in some ways. And so, along with the church in relationship to the changing world and the pandemic, in all of these challenges in my own life, I feel like I've also entered a new world, I'm learning life without my parents, and I know I've been blessed to have them in my life much longer than many people get to. So, so I'm grateful for the blessings, it was a huge loss, but it feels like it was very blessed. And at the end, I and my whole family – we're just very grateful for how things worked out and how their lives ended, and how we were able to celebrate that. And we're moving on well now, still grieving, but really, above all, just filled with gratitude.
Audrey
Thank you, Pastor Steve and Pastor Hector, through a year of a lot of changes, huge transitions, birth, life, and death, we're thankful for your ministry and your presence here.
Pastor Steve
Thank you, Audrey.
Pastor Hector
Thank you.
