Taiwan Church News
3823 Edition
June 2 ~ 8, 2025
Weekly Topical
Celebrating A Centenary of Mission, Tokyo Taiwan Church Gives Thanksgivings to God and Honors Founding Taiwanese Students to Proclaim Good News in Japan
Reported by Chen Yi-fan from Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo Taiwan Church, a member church of of the United Church of Christ in Japan (UCCJ), held a thanksgiving service for its 100th anniversary of mission in Japan on June 1.
Many former overseas Taiwanese students, who had attended and served in the church across different periods, specially organized a group of more than 30 family and friends coming to Tokyo to celebrate this centenary event.
A chorus of “Overseas Students OB/OG” (meaning old boy/old girl alumni) was therefore recruited to sing a commemorative hymn of A Centenary of Mission in the service. The milieu of the centenary thanksgiving service is heart-felt warm and touching.
Rev Lee Ming-kong, pastor of the Tokyo Taiwan Church, quoted Psalm 100 to deliver his sermon entitled as “Thanksgiving”. “Reflected from a theological perspective of human history, one hundred years could barely qualified as a sand amid the beach, but it is absolutely colossally meaningful to the Tokyo Taiwan Church!“
“This is the first overseas Taiwanese church established by the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT). It was established by overseas Taiwanese students in 1925. And, facing the challenges of scarce resources then, our forebears did not give up. Instead, they insisted to proclaim good news in Japan society and worship in Taiwanese mother tongue amid the service,” Rev Lee indicated.
Despite the historic interruptions, like the World War II and the severing of diplomatic relations between Taiwan(ROC) and Japan, overseas PCT churches, such as Ikebukuro, Kawagoe and Chiba, kept being established one by one. Rev Lee stressed that the mission in Japan would be impossible without God’s amazing grace.
Rev Lee Ming-kong also pointed out that Psalm 100 expressed the praise after the temple had been built up, and showcased the greatest joy in everyone’s hearts. “In the same vein, Tokyo Taiwan Church at its centenary celebration also offers a deep thanksgiving and hilarious praise to God’s goodness and blessings,” he said.
During the service, the church choir and the “Overseas Student OB/OG” sang the hymns and A Centenary of Mission respectively. Elder Huang Jun-hsian introduced to the assembly the chronicle events of the church, reviewed the historical pictures through photos, and honored past pastors and their spouses. In thanksgiving service, Mrs Lee Ma-zhen, spouse and close co-worker of Rev Lee Meng-zhe who suddenly passed away due to cerebral hemorrhage in 2018, was specially invited to be honored in the centenary thanksgiving service.
“God is still doing His mission in Japan, and we sincerely wish Tokyo Taiwan Church to carry on and witness such an amazing love of God in Japan,” said Rev Chen Hsin-liang, general secretary of the PCT, in his speech of congratulation amid the service. He reminded to the audience that Tokyo Taiwan Church has persistently played an indispensable leading role as a guardian of faith for Taiwan church since its establishment.
Now, with the outreach of Taiwan Semi-Conductor Manufacturing Company(TSMC) in Kumamoto, Japan, many Taiwanese have moved to Kumamoto increasingly. Rev Chen reported that, to care for the spiritual needs of Taiwanese emigrant engineers and their family, PCT has cooperated with Taiwanese enterprises related with TSMC to send missionaries into Kumamoto area.
Meanwhile, to remind the assembly not to forget the call from God, the centenary thanksgiving service continues the traditional liturgy of Tokyo Taiwan Church to recite The PCT Confession of Faith in an alternative chanting of read-and-response.
Many distinguished guests came to attend the centenary event, including Rev Aminaka Shoko, general secretary of UCCJ, Rev Tai Nai-hsuan, moderator of Jiayi presbytery of the PCT, and members of World Alliance of Taiwanese Christian Churches (WATCC) who also held an annual conference simultaneously in Japan.
Remarkably, to encourage church members to write down their witnesses in their pilgrimages of faith, Tokyo Taiwan Church launched a ministry of “Let’s Become Witness of Faith” in 2024. Finally, all the pieces of witnesses are edited together and published as a book, entitled as “The 100th Anniversary Witness of Tokyo Taiwan Church”, offering to the attending guests after the thanksgiving service.
Translated by Peter Wolfe
