Tokyo Union Church Memories

Read the carefully crafted reflections of our members as they draw from past memories.

  • I (Rachel) first came to TUC in 2013 and was immediately welcomed into the fold of the Young Adults Group. Over the years, both Jonathan and I have been involved in various ministries, but we’d like to highlight YAG. The rich diversity amongst its members has been a major highlight for me. We’ve had brothers and sisters from every corner of the world. Hearing their insights into God’s Word through their various cultural lenses is precious and rare to find in one place. We’ve also been blessed with members at different stages of their spiritual walks. Those who grew up in the church have brought depth of knowledge and wisdom, while new believers challenge us all with their questions and inspire us as they experience the power of God’s redeeming grace and love in their newly changed lives.

    On a personal level, our lives were certainly changed when Jonathan and I met at TUC in 2019. We grew up so differently, me in the American mid-West, and he a southern boy of Korean immigrants. But one day as Pastor Johann was watching the weather, he saw Jonathan and God inspired him to look up more about him online. Surprised to find that he was an ordained minister, he invited Jonathan to preach at TUC. It wasn’t long before God united our lives at TUC, and now we are blessed with our first little girl, Cana Grace, whose name was inspired by the sermon of yet another TUC pastor, Pastor Steve.

    The church family of TUC has certainly impacted our lives. We are so thankful to God for the gift of this fellowship.

  • Thinking back on my on and off years at TUC, one memory stands out that epitomizes the caring spirit of TUC members. My husband and I with our 6 month old daughter arrived in Japan on a cold, gray day in January 1970. Having no Japanese language ability yet, we began attending TUC. One day that summer, Rev. Mac Turnage knocked on our door to share that a member wanted to give us tickets for the Shinkansen and entrance to the 1970 Expo in Osaka. The offer was anonymous; Mac wouldn’t break that confidence. We accepted the trip with gratitude that someone made a rather expensive gift so this new-to-Japan family could see some of the country and enjoy a unique experience. We never learned who made the generous gift but the memory remains.That giving spirit is so evident at TUC, reflecting the love and caring for each other.

    Another early memory is the Christmas pageant in 1971 when I was asked to be Mary with our 2 months old son as Jesus. What a challenge (would that baby stay quiet?) but meaningful experience that was. A member from India dressed me in a beautiful blue sari. Bryan faced the congregation with apt attention. I told him as he was growing up that he had once been Jesus in a Christmas pageant and should behave accordingly.

    After we moved to Tsukuba Science City in Ibaragi ken, we rarely had the opportunity to attend TUC. Returning to live in Tokyo in 1996, I was invited to teach in the English Conversation School at Ginza Church. Eventually I was asked to serve on the school planning committee which required becoming a church member. So once again I only attended TUC occasionally because I needed to hear an English sermon. In the latter part of those years, I was asked by a TUC member if I would be willing to help count the offering to which I gladly agreed as I would be able to attend English worship now and then.

    After retiring in 2013, I began attending TUC full time. These days I experience joy at TUC through the sermons and music. I deeply appreciate the friendships that I have been privileged to make. During Covid the morning meetups have been especially enjoyable and meaningful as they help prevent loneliness. Bible studies, fellowship hour, Taize services, music and a myriad of other activities offer opportunities for spiritual growth for which I am grateful. That the pastoral team are so approachable, whether in person or through am email message is an added bonus.

    May God continue to bless Tokyo Union Church with grace, love and peace as we venture into somewhat unknown territory in the days and years ahead, always thankful for the 150 years of ministry that have guided us .

    In Love and Gratitude, Kathy Burton-Lewis

  • Paul and I first came to TUC in the early 1960s. In those days, the congregation was made up of mostly well financed expat families, and we were pulled aside after the service and told, "Japanese have their own churches. You go there". We joined the Ikebukuro Nishi Kyokai, attended by Paul's family, and were welcomed there, but everything was in Japanese, making it hard for me to take part. We did often come to TUC for services at Easter and Christmas, but were made to sit in the basement, listening to the service on a speaker.

    In the early to mid 1970s, Paul got a job with Bankers Trust as head of the Tokyo branch, and our family was rather reluctantly allowed to join, though still somewhat outsiders. Over the years, it has been my joy to see TUC moving slowly to resemble the church I grew up in, one who accepts all, regardless of race and financial wealth, a church who serves the homeless and welcomes the stranger.

    Over 40 years of choir membership and 30 years of serving the homeless and working with the Stewardship team, with a revolving door of friends, God's house has become my home, and I am truly grateful.

  • During the busy years of raising children, in the '90s and early '00s, TUC was our church, where we felt included, seen, and loved. I was raised Presbyterian and my husband Catholic. Here was a place where we could both be, without having to abandon any past memberships or take new vows that would diminish those we had taken in the past as Christians. When we left Tokyo and moved to the US in 2006, we attended a Catholic church, where I was often one of a handful of people left sitting during the eucharist (communion). I sometimes thought (as silly as it seems) that people were wondering, "What terrible sin has she committed so that she doesn't come up?"

    This love and acceptance was a result of the blend of denominations that members came from. There were many questions about God and Christianity that I wrestled with. Had I not moved to Tokyo, I might have stayed in a Presbyterian bubble all my life. Instead, rather than turn to the official Presbyterian stance on these, or a narrower range of thought held by Presbyterians, I saw that many people had different ways of thinking. I still have a list of questions that I haven't quite figured out what God is telling us to do or believe. But TUC helped me see that on the big issues: the most important things of loving God with our whole hearts souls, and minds, and loving our neighbor as ourselves, most of us agree. And the issues I struggle with in my daily life in being a better Christian are more related to these than other denominational differences.

    TUC meant the blessing of regular sustained exposure to the wider world of Christianity and a more diverse group of brothers and sisters in Christ than I would have had otherwise. This acceptance of different beliefs and traditions projected a love and acceptance, reflective of Christ, that made TUC a welcoming home for me and my family.

  • My fondest memories at TUC

    In June 1998 my husband Yasuhiko and I got married at TUC. Barbara Lund conducted the cerermony and Sen Nishiyama gave a translation from English to Japanese, Kumiko sang a solo, and many TUC friends attended the celebration. Within two years, my husband was baptized at TUC by Barry Dawson. (Yasuhiko attended a bible study conducted by Jeanette Kibler in Japanese.

  • Youth Retreat in Karuizawa: One of my favorite memories was chaperoning a youth retreat in Karuizawa just prior to COVID. The youth took a bus up, but I had to work and catch the shinkansen later that day. That first day was my son’s birthday, so I surprised everyone by bringing cake pops my wife made. We alternated between nature hikes, bible studies, spiritual discussions, church tours, good food, and fellowship. The event culminated with a laberynth prayer walk led by Pastor Ivan. We needed music, so I played the piano while each of the youth walked the laberynth in contemplation / prayer. It was a powerful experience and I continue to be impressed with the thoughtfulness, honesty, courage, and spiritual maturity of our youth at TUC.

  • When I think about what I’ve experienced at TUC, during the past 5 years my husband and I have been members, the first thing that comes to mind is my own spiritual growth. In my growing up years and as a young adult, I was a member of a Presbyterian church in the U.S. However, after I got married at the age of 30 and moved to Japan, my husband and I joined a Japanese Christian church in Niigata. It was of the same doctrine as Presbyterian churches, but everything was in Japanese. It was good for my husband and our kids, but for me it was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever experienced. After my husband retired in 2017 and we moved to Chiba, it was a huge blessing to be able to join TUC. I could finally worship and have fellowship in English. Being a member of the Communications ministry as well as the Prayer ministry has brought me into contact with many in our church family who have been beyond an inspiration to me. My husband was asked to do a reading on Pentecost Sunday this year and also ushers with me, which has drawn him closer to other members as well and he hopes to become more involved. TUC is definitely a beacon of light in the heart of Tokyo that has been, and will always be, a blessing to those in Tokyo, and its metropolitan areas, who are searching for an English-speaking church. God has been at work in our church for 150 years and I look forward to our future!! “Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!”

  • Perhaps like many who have come to TUC in the past 150 years, I first came to TUC in 2010 fairly desperate for company who understood and accepted me. I’d just moved back to Tokyo, my hometown, after having spent some childhood years and almost all my adult life in the US, and life felt overwhelmingly foreign and exhausting. For someone like me, TUC has provided and continues to provide a refuge and a home. I understood God’s love and inclusion firsthand thanks to the amazing people with whom God has blessed me at TUC.

    Over the next years, I was feeling less and less foreign but perhaps more complacent, unable to switch gears from that desperate person who first came to TUC. I felt God challenging me to learn different lessons now through church life at TUC, especially about humility, service, and making space for others. One sermon by Pastor Johann Symington has stayed with me all these years, where he talked about how church exists for people who need it the most, especially those who are excluded elsewhere and even those who have yet to set foot inside our church. I realized how I was surrounded by many wonderful role models at TUC who, in fact, were making sure we humbly served and made space for others, with the conviction that this is what God has called us to do. Their selflessness and love continue to inspire me.

  • Tokyo Union Church (TUC) is celebrating 150 years of ministry and my life in Tokyo and Japan has overlapped with 35 of those years.

    In 1987 before I embarked on the long journey from Atlanta to Tokyo to work as a mission associate teaching English at a Christian girls’ school (and before the days of mobile phones and internet searches on Google), a mentor recommended TUC as a welcoming place of worship and fellowship and gave clear and precise directions to Omotesando. Guess who was assistant pastor at that time? Pastor Steve Yamaguchi!

    My first year was spent living in a studio apartment in Tsukiji -the main fish district of Tokyo. I felt a little isolated until I learned that TUC’s roots began in Tsukiji - meeting in missionary homes when Tsukiji was the designated foreigners’ settlement. Through that connection, I found a new appreciation for my historic neighborhood.

    I felt at home in TUC’s young adult group and met my future husband Naoki. We exchanged vows in the US, but our marriage was blessed in the TUC sanctuary in 1989. Our son was born and baptized the following year by the TUC pastor and my parents, both ordained Presbyterian pastors visiting from the US. The TUC pastor who was open to a creative liturgy that included them. I remember the streets in front of the church and in Harajuku were pedestrian streets on Sundays.

    As our family grew over the years, our four kids enjoyed youth club, VBS, and Habitat for Humanity trips. I also remember two of my kids and I cleaned up the TUC kitchen after one of the luncheons sponsored by TUC’s Ministry of Homeless Neighbors (MOHN).

    TUC’s emphasis on music has bridged friendships and I enjoyed being part of the choir for two years and making friendships with several choir members.

    I was introduced to and impressed with the work of Asian Rural Institute through TUC member and gifted photographer Pam Hasegawa and also elder Paul Fukuda who arranged ARI home stays with TUC families every October. Later our family lived in Nasushiobara near ARI from 1992 -1995 and I volunteered in the ARI library. And in retirement, our family moved back to Nasushiobara a year ago.

    Just as we were making this retirement transition to a rural area of Japan, I have experienced the blessing of worshipping at TUC through the online services led by Pastor Steve, Pastor Hector, Pastor Audrey, TUC choirs, and the TUC media team.

    Sharing greetings and passing the peace have been important elements for the life of TUC. TUC welcomes and introduces newcomers and bids sayonara as members continue their faith journeys in new places. In these 35 years I have witnessed TUC grow from a congregation of mainly Western expatriates and evolve into a delightfully diverse congregation rooted in Japan. This harmony of Christian friendships from around the globe is an element that people cherish and the type of environment TUC alumni seek to rebuild in churches in their homelands.

  • I was just a short time visitor to TUC when, shortly before my intended departure from Japan, something happened to change those plans.

    I must have made quite an impression somehow, as the elders were petitioned by church members to have me do music events with the church. Heads of the church then, describing what I do as a “unique and valuable ministry”, officially invited and asked me to stay to do music outreach/evangelism activity in connection with the church, and to share about what I do, as it “matched perfectly with their vision of a new direction for TUC”, to be established later that year.

    After gaining further understanding of what would be expected of me if I were to accept, I sent a letter of acceptance to the elders, and cancelled those other plans.

    My time with TUC included being asked to minister through music to tsunami victims in Tohoku, to do music outreach/evangelism events for students of universities throughout Tokyo, to do music ministry with the Asian Rural Institute, collaborating with the ballet company to compose music for a choreographed performance piece, performing at an event in Fukushima for remaining residents in the wake of the nuclear power plant meltdown, and two concert tours to Taiwan, ministering with churches there. I was also a volunteer in clean up efforts after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

    The most meaningful and inspiring thing to me from that time, are the sincere individuals I met and came to know who, regardless of nationality, culture, background or social status, see themselves not more deserving than others, but with a true love of God and others before self, are willing to use their abilities, talents, time and effort to serve the kingdom, and to do so with integrity and honesty.