Here are a couple of updates for your information and calendar.

Lent began on Ash Wednesday (Feb. 17th)

Because MCIC has Christians from a variety of backgrounds let me take just a moment to review. Lent is a forty-day period before Easter, (although in counting Sunday’s are skipped because Sundays commemorate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ).

The season of Lent is observed in a variety of ways. Some Christians do not like to observe Lent because it is associated with high church liturgical worship. Whereas other Christians incorporate Lent into daily practice.

Lent has traditionally been marked by more frequent prayer, periods of fasting, and increased giving. Some churches today still observe a rigid schedule of fasting on certain days during Lent, especially the giving up of meat, alcohol, sweets, and other types of food. Other Christians do not place as great an emphasis on fasting, but focus on charity, especially helping those in need with food and clothing, or simply the giving of money. From my experience, in general the Christian churches that observe Lent, all focus on Lent as a time of prayer, with a focus on sin as a reminder on the need for God’s grace.

How ever you follow the season of Lent remember it is really a preparation to celebrate God’s marvelous redemption at Easter, and the resurrected life that we live, and hope for, as Christians.

Calendar Updates for our English worship:

Every Wednesday in Lent from February 24th to March 24th we will have a light Soup and Sandwich meal from 6:00 – 7:00 pm. At 7:00 pm we will have a short worship service. Sign up for soup is on the bulletin board in the entry. Besides our regular worship at 5:00 pm remember these important dates:

March 28th Palm (Passion) Sunday Worship (No Adult Bible Study or Sunday School)

June 27th Worship. Last Worship with Pastor C (Pastor C and family will be returning to the US)

Spring as I mentioned is around the corner and that means good strawberries are ripe for the picking! We are planning a strawberry picking excursion on the last Sunday of February and all that are interested in joining can come along! If you’ve never been strawberry picking in Japan, it is quite an experience. It is a bit different from back home where it is usual to pick the berries and and take them home, here in Japan you pick and eat to your heart’s content! Here are the details:

Date: Sunday, February 28
Location: Near to Lake Hamanako, Shizuoka Prefecture
Meet: 8:45am at Meito Church. We will leave at 9am.
Cost: 2,000 yen/adult 1400 yen/per child 3-12 years old

We will likely stop by a service area to grab a light lunch before gorging ourselves on strawberries! We may also stop at a temple to view plum blossoms if time permits. We aim to be back to the church close to 3pm. Yusaku, Erin and Maya will go in their minivan and have space for more people. For those who can drive, we will form a “caravan.” If you have space in your car for non-drivers, please let Erin Sakakibara know.

Suggested donation — 500 yen per person.

“Shrove Tuesday” is the day before Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent; a 40 day period of reflection and spiritual discipline, at times marked by fasting, to prepare for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ remembered during the week of the Passion and on Easter. Shrove is the past tense of the English verb to shrive, which means to obtain absolution for one’s sins by way of confession and doing penance. The roots of this day are what some countries and cultures celebrate as Carnival or Mardi Gras.

In England and some other countries the day was observed by eating rich foods made with eggs, sugar and butter (such as pancakes) to the extent that some call the day — Pancake Day.

Join us as we raise money for the needs of many in earthquake struck Haiti.

All are welcome!

Patricia Thornton-Houser

Jones-Wynn Funeral Home
2189 Midway Rd
Douglasville, GA
30135-1015
770-942-2311

For a map, an online guest register book, and Tricia’s obituary,
please click on the following link:

December 20th (4th Sunday of Advent)

4:00 p.m. – Sunday school and Adult Bible Study
5:00 p.m. – Worship
6:00 p.m. – Fellowship

December 24th

7:00 p.m. – Candlelight Christmas Eve Worship with Holy Communion
(After worship you are invited to go caroling at Fujigaoka Station)

December 27th

5:00 p.m. Worship
6:00 p.m. Christmas/New Year Potluck

January 3rd
5:00 p.m. Worship
6:00 p.m. Fellowship

Please note: There will be no Sunday school and Adult Bible Study on December 27th or January 3rd.

God’s Blessings!

Of course, as an evangelical Protestant Christian, I find the practice of “venerating saints” in the belief that Christians of the past are closer to God because of their holiness or more accessible to us than Jesus Christ because of their humanness to be wrong. Nevertheless, to dismiss their lives including their sacrifices to provide for the good news of Jesus Christ to be made known is not appropriate either.

At MCIC on Sunday, November 1st, traditionally “All Saints,” we will be remembering those who have died before us. It is not just an opportunity to remember the “famous” Christians but anyone who has been part of our lives, particularly those who have died in the last year. We do not pray to them, or even about them. Rather, like Paul said in Romans 6: 4 “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” They have been buried as we will be buried with faith in Jesus Christ. From my experience, at this point many ask what about those who were not baptized before they died, what of them? Well, as you can imagine, the Christian church is deeply divided. I am of the view that just as I cannot “give” eternal life to anyone else, only God’s grace can, I simply am to trust in this same grace in Jesus Christ and continue to share while I am alive what God has done. Thankfully I am not the judge

Join us on Sunday as we remember those who have died. If you will not be with us, take a moment next week and remember those people who have been important to your life, particularly those Christians who have helped you in your faith.

Also on November 1st, we will be having an important general meeting to discuss the future of our English worship group which has depended on Lutheran missionaries in the past. The Japanese Lutheran Church is no longer requesting a Lutheran missionary from the US in Nagoya, so my term as a missionary will end in the summer of 2010. The meeting will begin immediately after worship. Unfortunately, we do not have child care available.

Reminder:

November 29th is our annual Thanksgiving Potluck.

It will begin immediately after worship around 6:03 pm.. All in the community are invited for worship and the potluck or just the potluck. Two cooked turkeys will be provided by MCIC. A sign up sheet is posted for donations of food. This year we will also be requesting donations of uncooked rice. The rice will be donated to a low income senior home called “Fukushimura.” Join us!

His children were returned to his ex-wife and Mr. Savoie went to Japanese jail. He was recently released. As has been noted in other places, Japan does not recognize divorce and divorce with children the same way as in other countries. Also Japan has not signed some international treaties regarding the issue of divorce, children and spousal rights in international, cross-cultural marriages.

Here is another story on a similar vein. This is a link to the story of Spencer and his father Craig. Craig and Spencer came once to our English worship service and some of us heard about his story. CNN has recently aired a newscast about this particular story.

Thanks for you support and keep Craig and Spencer in your prayers. If you would like to support Craig their is a place to donate at

Thank you.

In August 2006 my family and I came to Nagoya, Japan on a 4-year term as Missionaries. Part of my ministry was to be the pastor for the English worship service that had grown to be called Meito Christ International Church (MCIC) – a ministry of hospitality to English speakers in Nagoya. It was a ministry that began years ago under former Lutheran missionaries Rev. Steenburg and continued under Rev. Mason.

I also came with the message from my church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and its partner in ministry, the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church (JELC) that MCIC could not expect Lutheran missionaries to continue to be pastors after my term expired in 2010.

In the spring of 2009 MCIC filed an application for a new missionary in conjunction with the application of our Japanese Lutheran host the Tokai district of the JELC to begin in 2010. Recently, we received the news that the Japanese church (JELC) has decided to end the ELCA Lutheran missionary presence with my term.

This means that after my term ends in July 2010, there will no longer be an English speaking Lutheran missionary from the US in the Nagoya area for the foreseeable future.

In preparation for the possibility of this time, in 2006 MCIC renewed it’s partnership with Nagoya-Kibo Lutheran Church, a merger of three Japanese congregations including the former host of the MCIC – Meito Christ Lutheran Church. MCIC began to have its own budget and responsibility for some expenses and began to save some money with the goal of financially supporting its own pastor. MCIC formed a church council with two elected positions, a president and co-treasures and includes two volunteer representatives who attend MCIC faithfully as well as myself. Although we took those steps, MCIC is not an official congregation or legal entity. MCIC continues to be a ministry of hospitality to English speakers who want to worship in a Christian inter-denominational congregation.

However, now with the recent decision by the JELC the time has come for MCIC to continue to evolve. The council of MCIC met on Sunday and discussed MCIC’s various options. The will meet again shortly to continue that discussion. The council will share their suggestion and the next step at a general congregational meeting on November 1st immediately after worship. This meeting is an important one and on behalf of the council I encourage all to attend. On the agenda will be to discuss the recommendation of the council.

Please continue to pray for MCIC in this time of transition and for God’s Holy Spirit to continue to direct and guide our path.

Be assured that worship will continue at 5:00 pm with Sunday school and Adult Bible Study at 4:00 pm. As always, MCIC welcomes all to worship to God’s glory.

In Christ,

Pastor C.

For some newcomers to Japan, the density is a difficult challenge (and the opposite is the case, Japanese going to a relatively empty parts of the world — can find it disconcerting with no people). I remember the first time I experienced the press of people in a train during the late 1980’s in Tokyo. As I am claustrophobic, initially I had to close my eyes and imagine myself out in a field. Another added benefit was that I was a head taller (at that time!) than many of the people around me. Eventually, I became accustomed to, but never satisfied with, the press of people around me.

In Chapter 2 of the gospel of Mark we hear of a house being so crowded with people to hear Jesus that when a group came bearing their friend, in order to reach Jesus, this group dug a hole through the roof and lowered their friend down. I have thought about that image here in Japan where the Christian faith is a small minority in midst of a large population on a heavily populated, small group of islands. The times that I have been at a Japanese Church and someone new has come through the doors to hear the good news of Jesus Christ, reminds me of that episode in the life of Jesus. What possibly did this newcomer have push aside or barriers to overcome to enter through those doors of that Christian house of worship? Of course, that issue is not unique to Japan!

On Sunday, September 6th we begin our Fall schedule. Our worship time remains at 5:00 pm with fellowship at 6:00 pm. We will begin Sunday school for children on September 6th at 4:00 pm. We will have one class for children up to grade 5. If you have a child younger than 4 we encourage an adult to be with the child during SS to help the child with SS projects. We will continue with our adult Bible study at 4:00 pm. in the Fall. For our adult Bible study we have been using one of the Bible lessons assigned for that day.

Please note:

September 27th Michael Ricart from ICAN (International Christian Academy of Nagoya) will be preaching. (I will be in the US for a wedding.) (No adult Bible Study)

November 29th Our Annual Thanksgiving Potluck from 6:03 pm after worship. Turkey as always will be served! (No Sunday School or adult Bible Study) We we be receiving gifts of rice for Fukushimura.

December 24th Christmas Eve Worship at 7:00 pm. This year, we will not have a potluck after Christmas worship but treats will be available.

December 27th No Sunday School or adult Bible study.

Chapter 12 – 16

These final chapters of Roman’s focus on how the story of God’s relationship to his rebellious creation impacts on the way Christians are to conduct their daily lives. These chapters follow Paul’s discussion on grace. It is important to remember that Paul is reminding the Romans that grace is the opposite of permissiveness, which may have been a problem in the early church (and today?). Grace brings with itself specific structures. It brings with itself the power to reshape and restructure our lives in a way appropriate for life under the lordship of God through Jesus Christ.

Chapter 12

Vs. 1 Present your bodies as living sacrifices
Vs. 2 Be transformed, not conformed
Vs. 3-8 Members of one body
Vs. 9-21 Exhortations

Read: Vs. 1-2 What does “be a living sacrifice” mean?

Chapter 13

Vs. 1-7 Responsibilities to the government
Vs. 8-14 Exhortations

Read: Vs. 1 & 8

Chapter 14

Vs. 1-13 Words to the strong and weak Christians
Vs. 14-23 More words to the strong Christians

Read Vs. 1 & 19

Chapter 15

Vs. 1-13 Concluding words to strong Christians
Vs. 14-33 Paul’s plans

Read Vs. 1 & 23-28

Chapter 16

Vs. 1-24 Concluding instructions & farewells
Vs. 25-27 Doxology

Read Vs. 1 & 25