Administration Ministry Team
Post Covid Principles
by Catherine Sasanuma
Spring is upon us and there is much for us to update and report on as we both review the past year and look toward the future. We have much for which to be thankful and much to report to our Congregation. Many changes and initiatives are upon us and we’re excited to share our efforts moving forward.
In 2023 the Admin Team worked with the Council on some key issues to develop our “new normal” in light of the post-covid world. We re-examined our congregations’ needs. Like every other congregation TUC had had to re-think TUC priorities after Covid. As we emerged from the worst of the covid challenges we affirmed that we are still guided by same core principles. Of Grounded in Christ, Open to All, Active in Joyful Service and Integrated in Community.
However, the Council needed more information to adapt and respond in a Post Covid world. Nick Ashley led the Council in a three-month dialogue asking one simple question: how can we remain God’s House and our home to our Congregation in a post covid world?
We wanted to make sure we were on the right track in defining and re-affirming our priorities. We ended up embracing these core priorities.
Belonging
TUC members strongly long for a sense of belonging after the Covid years.
Connection in Community
The physical separation we endured during covid meant that our bonds of fellowship, friendship, serving and learning were tested. With the worst of the pandemic behind us (and praise God for that), we embrace in-person fellowship. A physical space allows us to strengthen these bonds.
Being Connected- Finding our Connectors
To engage in vibrant community we need to find those people in our congregation who will be our “connectors”. Community takes people working to bring people together toward in common vision: to grow, to learn, and to deepen our Christian fellowship.
Digital Ministry: A priority that opens new questions
Continuing to strongly embrace the Digital Worship and Learning Ministry. Our digital ministry gave us a way to continue to lead and nurture our congregation during Covid . For those of us who are separated by distance we’ll continue this offering which reaches over 100 people every week. On-line opportunities also serve our older TUC members. That said, we have found that our digital ministry also comes with questions—and that we don’t yet have all the answers. For example; Can on-line worshipers be members? Who are our on-line participants? What needs are we meeting? How can we stay better connected to our Alumni through on line meetings? (Already the Meet-Ups of Alumni and members has taken root). We don’t have the answers yet but we know we need to explore how to ensure that digital ministry leads to growing in Christ and results in connectedness needed for Christian community.
We welcome members’ comments on all the above questions posted about our Digital Ministry.
By-Laws
Tokyo Union Church is an independent union church so governing documents are extremely important. It’s been over a decade since our by-laws were last updated in 2011. Although a heroic effort was put in by Jim Anderson, Karl K, Anita Gesling and Jody Fuller to update the By-Laws in 2013-14, they did not reach the finish line of Council approval.
Jody Fuller and Alan Sorba took on this task again through 2023, meeting every Wednesday. The following amendments regarding the organization of the Council were adopted:
Community Life became a full eldership to reflect the value of Belonging
Property and Use became a ministry to reflect the aging nature of the church and give decision makers a seat at the Council table for big decisions.
Outreach was reorganized under the Admin Team under the direction of two co-leaders
Many parts of the 2011 by-laws were no longer relevant and this update will serve as an important guide to elders for many years to come
In April 2023 the Council voted to approve the new by-laws. This concluded a year of work and many Council discussions.
(Please see the charge with changes highlighted in a different color and also the detailed list of changes to the By-Laws in the Addendum.)
TUC’s Campaign for Tomorrow
When we celebrated our 150th anniversary in 2022 we gave praise to God for our last 150 years. We now look to our next 150 years and building a sustainable path to the future of sharing the gospel of Christ in Japan.
In 2023 a committee, in consultation with the Finance Committee put forth recommendations
To establish an endowment for operating costs.
To build stronger relations with TUC Alumni
To write the history of Tokyo Union Church from 1980 to present so we are grounded in our past with a vision for the future.
In 2024 we will launch “The Campaign for Tomorrow” to raise $1.5 million over the next three year. The need for the endowment grows out of the understanding that TUC has experienced major earthquakes, Sars type events and the pandemic which leads to financial instability. The goals are as follows:
Endowment
1. To maintain and enhance our children’s, youth and young adults programs. TUC is one of only two English speaking churches in the Tokyo area that has remained committed to providing children and youth programs;
2. Allowing us to recruit and support a second pastor;
3. Continuing our hybrid ministry through worship, bible study and outreach;
4. To help provide and ensure stability through difficult periods. In the months following the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami roughly one third of our congregation fled Japan,. After the onset of the pandemic TUC was closed. In spite of this TUC continued to operate and support our community through hard and lean times. Going forward, an endowment will help stabilize our Church if and when we face future trials.
In support of this effort we moved $500,000 from the Foundation to kick-off our Campaign for Tomorrow.
Alumni Relations
We want to strengthen our existing relations with our alumni who built Tokyo Union Church.
History
As one of the oldest Christian churches in Japan, the history of TUC is important; the past, with both mistakes and triumphs leads us into the future. We will call on our alumni to help preserve and record this history.
Pastoral Changes and Transitions
In 2023, after four and a half years Pastor Steve Yamaguchi announced his retirement. In the Spring of 2023 the Congregation voted to launch a worldwide senior pastor search. On March 11th of this year, the Congregation elected Pastor Hector Herrera as the next Senior Pastor of TUC. We are confident that Pastor Hector is the right leader to continue TUC’s development as a vibrant and loving Christian community.
Stewardship
by Alan Sorba
How have you seen God at work in your ministry over the year?
Through regular and joyful gatherings of a committed group to study, share on, encourage, and grow spiritually in stewardship;
From the encouraging messages that were part of the stewardship season;
By the increase in the number of Financial pledge forms received over the prior year. Several people expressed interest in serving opportunities through submitting Time & Talent pledge forms too.
List the activities and the engagement of your ministry this past year.
In early 2023, we welcomed new and enthusiastic members to our team, affirmed our areas of ministry within stewardship, and brainstormed initiatives for the year.
We met monthly to deepen our relationships by taking turns and sharing a bit about our personal experiences. We then delved in and studied various aspects and materials on stewardship.
A highlight was reading the book The Equipping Church by Sue Mallory and sharing what resonated with us from it. We were then blessed to have Sue join us for a special session on her book on a Sunday in November. Sue is a dear friend of Pastor Steve and her book is about equipping people like you and me to serve in the church and to be equipped to carry out our callings using our unique gifts to be a light for Christ wherever we are. It was rewarding to hear from Sue about her experiences and how just by being open to serving how God has opened doors for her to serve joyfully and to live an adventure.
The year’s stewardship season in the fall featured special moments for ministry by Jesper Bjornholt and Becky Agatsuma, Nick Ashley, Christian & Manna Martinu, and Bianca Allen, who inspired us with their messages and with this year’s theme in mind from Romans 12: 5-6 - You Belong and You are Uniquely Gifted.
The sermons from our pastors and Dr. Jonathan Walton, president of the Princeton Theological Seminary, also helped us go deeper on the topic.
We’re grateful for the beautiful banner hand-made by Julie Fukuda, which encourages us to think about what return we can make to the Lord given all that He has given to us.
And how about that Rally Day? Catherine Sasanuma and a host of others put on a great event to help people learn about ways to get involved at TUC.
This all led us to follow TUC’s tradition of submitting our pledges on Dedication Sunday. I’m pleased to report that more than double the number of pledges were received on Dedication Sunday compared to the year before.
All together, TUC received 97 Financial pledge forms for 2024 totaling ¥39.4 million (¥ pledges: 90 forms / ¥17.8 million; $ pledges: 7 forms / $152,600). In the prior year, 88 Financial pledge forms were received totaling ¥38.3 million (¥ pledges: 77 forms / ¥16.1 million; $ pledges: 11 forms / $168,400).
In total, 38 people expressed interest in 57 serving opportunities through submitting Time & Talent pledge forms. In the prior year, 79 people expressed interest in 151 serving opportunities through submitting Time & Talent pledge forms.
A big thank you to everyone for making this year one to remember!