Church News
Mitaka Evangelical Church

Transfers and Baptisms

This last year has seen the loss of quite a few members because of moving and transferring to other churches. Altogether 14 people left the church through transfer, some of these people were temporary members that we knew would only be with us for a while, but we still miss them. For a church as small as ours, this was a large loss.

Jonathan Logan from Australia visited with us for about a year but has now gone back to the Land of the Kangaroo. The Regalado family visited with us longer, over 2 years, but they have moved on also. Mrs. Sen, who was a member for over 10 years, has transferred to a church near her home so that she can attend every week with her husband. Mrs. Masubuchi along with her daughter Monika transferred so that she could attend a nearby church with her husband. The Matsuda family moved to the States.

We did have one young lady, Miss Megumi Yano, transfer in. And we added 3 new very young members to the church through the baptism of newborn infants. God has given to the Ohtsuka family, their fifth child, a baby boy Tomoki; to the Kamei family, their first child, a baby boy Yoshiwaki; and to the Sano family, their second child, a boy Yoshihiro.

We have 18 families now, down from 22 families a few years ago. Our total membership is 104, down 10 from last year. The 104 members include exactly 50 who are under 20. That means that we have great potential for the future and not much in the way of financial resources in the present!

Sunday Worship

We have been able to revise our Order of Worship for the Sunday service to reflect our belief that worship is covenant renewal.

Worship begins with an invitation, followed by a Psalm of praise. We then confess our sins as a church (Psa. 51:1-5, 10) and receive the promise of forgiveness from God's word (1 John 1:8-10). Then, after we all pray the Lord's Prayer together, one of the elders prays the pastoral prayer.

This is followed by responsive reading of Scripture and the offering. Then we recite the Ten Commandments with Luke 10:27, and the Apostles' Creed. After these, come the Scripture reading for the sermon and the sermon.

The climax of the worship service is the weekly celebration of our Lord's Supper, in which we remember His death until He comes. We celebrate His victory over sin as we receive from the Lord Himself the elements that He has ordained as covenantal testimonies of His love and favor.

Worship ends with another Psalm and a benediction from Scripture.

The point of this Order of Worship is to reflect the meaning of weekly worship. Worship is the ceremony by which God renews His covenant with His people. God invites us to His covenant feast and bids us rejoice in His goodness and love. When we partake of the Lord's Supper, we also renew our covenant oath to be faithful to Him.

Teaching

Both Ralph and Sylvia have a full schedule of teaching. Sylvia teaches the Sunday School teachers and helps them to prepare for their classes each week. Six times a year she teaches special classes for young mothers, and twice a year, she holds a whole-day seminar for the ladies.

In addition, she does most of the work for the administration of the research center, plans the home school meetings held four times a year, and edits and writes for the quarterly newsletter. And she is a mother of three children, who also claim some of her time and much of her heart.

In Sunday worship, Ralph will soon begin the book of First Corinthians. Sunday afternoon adult class is still studying the Ten Commandments through the Westminster Larger Catechism and the book of Deuteronomy.

Christmas Meeting

Every Christmas we hold an evangelistic meeting. This year we had about 60 non-Christian guests. (We expected more, but the weather was bad this year.) We have a short worship service followed by the Sunday School children singing songs and reciting Scripture. This year Ralph preached a sermon from 1 John 4:8-10. After the service and singing, we have about 2 hours for homemade cake, cookies, sandwiches, etc., and we talk individually to our guests.

In the past, this evangelistic service has been used by the Lord to lead some to Christ. We pray for God's blessing as we continue to sow the seed, looking forward to a harvest in His time.

Church Camp

Every spring our church holds a camp in the mountainous country outside of Tokyo. It is a 4-day local-church festival. With few exceptions, all the members come. It brings us together as an extended Christian family to enjoy study and fellowship. For our last camp, we concentrated on the doctrine of the Person of Christ.