We welcome you to join the West Tokyo Union Church faith family for an online service on Sunday, April 28 with Jim Sack preaching. The title of the sermon is “What a Pain it is to Love.” It’s an interesting topic and all will be explained at the service. We hope to see you online at 10am on Sunday.

_{^{Love Your Enemy by Timothy Schmalz}}

Scripture Readings: 1 John 4:7-21 and the Gospel of John 15:4

The hymns for the day::
    #539 O Spirit of the Living God (Verses 1,3,4)
    #549 Where Charity and Love Prevail  (Verses1,2,5,6)
    #384 Love Divine, All Loves Excelling  (Verses 1,2,3,4)

We hope that many of you will be able to come and worship with us!

Note: May 12th and May 19th will both be in-person services. We will keep you posted on the times and locations of the gatherings.

We invite you to join the WTUC faith family for our online worship this Sunday, April 21 at 10am Japan time!

Sermon Title: The Gospel According To The Life Of Luke
Old Testament reading: Ps 103:1-12
New Testament reading: II Cor. 12:3-10
Hymns: “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise” – “There Is A Balm In Gilead” – “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand”
 

Date: Apr 21 (Sunday)

Time: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM (Tokyo Time)

Place: Zoom

Style: Online

Speaker: Rev Tim Boyle

Liturgist: Esther Yomoah

Organ: Kazuko Sacon

Children’s Message: Ruth Ingulsrud

Slides: Misae Uratai

Zoom log in information

ID: 840 9415 4793

PW: 583756

We hope that many of you will be able to come and worship with us!

We welcome you all to come and worship with the West Tokyo Union Church family next Sunday, April 14th at 11am for a hybrid, in-person and online service. Please note the time change. We will be meeting in our usual room on the campus of the Lutheran College in Mitaka. Here is a link to the location:  https://wtuc.net/map/

Our preacher is Rev. Jonathan Oh, who will be joining us with his family. We hope that many of you can come and meet them at the church. His message is called, “Grace in the Midst of Doubt.” The Gospel Reading is from Luke 24:36b-48 and the New Testament Reading is Acts 3:12-19. 

Opening Hymn: Crown Him with Many Crowns (UMC Hymn 327)
Hymn of Response: My Hope is Built (UMC Hymn 368)
Closing Hymn: Standing on the Promises (UMC Hymn 374)

Our organist is Kazuko, the liturgist will be Steve Eskildsen and Ruth Ingulsrud will bring the children’s message.

Jonathan’s Biography:
Rev. Jonathan Oh is an ordained teaching elder with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). He has been living in Japan for over ten years and is serving as a tentmaking missionary. He is an on-camera meteorologist for an international broadcasting service. At Tokyo Union Church, he serves as a chaplain for the young adults group and helps lead the audio-visual production team. Jonathan is happily married to his wife and partner, Rachel, and is the proud father of a young daughter, Cana.

We hope that many of you will be able to come and worship with us!

For a recording of the service on April 14, please click on the link below:

It was wonderful to see many of you in person at the Easter Service and lunch on the campus of the Lutheran College in Mitaka. Glad that so many friends showed up!

Join the West Tokyo Union Church family at 10am, this Sunday April 7, for an online worship service. Carol Sack will bring the message, “Then Jesus Showed Up.” The slides are prepared by Carol, the liturgist is Betsy, our organist is Kazuko and Ruth will present the children’s message with help from her puppet friends.

Gospel Lesson  —  John 20:19-31

Hymns:
Opening Hymn: EASTER PEOPLE, RAISE YOUR VOICES
Hymn of Response: THIS IS A DAY OF NEW BEGINNINGS 
Closing Hymn:  NOW THE GREEN BLADE RISETH

We look forward to seeing you online. The following Sunday, April 14, will be a hybrid service, both in-person and online with Rev. Jonathan Oh preaching.

We hope that many of you will be able to come and worship with us!

You are welcome to join the West Tokyo Union Church community for any or all of the upcoming events during this Holy Week:

The Good Friday service at Mitaka Lutheran Church on the campus of the Japan Lutheran College (https://www.luther.ac.jp/language/en.html) will be held at 5pm on March 29, 2024. The service will be in bilingual in English and Japanese.

On Saturday of Holy Week there will be an Easter Vigil, once again at Mitaka Lutheran Church, from 6:00pm to 8:00pm on March 30th, which includes Holy Communion. This service is only in Japanese.

On Easter Sunday, March 31, our worship service will be in-person only, meeting at our regular space on the Japan Lutheran College campus. The service will start at 11:00 am on Easter instead of at 10:00 am which is our usual time.

Easter Sunday events at WTUC on the Mitaka Lutheran College campus:

Egg hunt and lunch set up starts at 10:00am

Egg hunt at 10:30am

Worship at 11:00am

Lunch at 12:00 (after worship) in the cafeteria

Rev. Dr. Jim Sack will be preaching on Easter Sunday. Jill will be liturgist and Kazuko will play the organ. The texts that will be used are Isaiah 25:6-9 and Mark 16:1-8. The Title of the sermon is “God Running on Empty.” The children’s message is pre-recorded since Ruth is preaching at a church near Tachikawa on Easter Sunday.

The hymns are: Christ the Lord is Risen Today, It Is Well With My Soul and Christ is Alive.

We hope that your week may be very meaningful and that many of you will be able to come and worship with us!

Palm Sunday is almost here! Join the WTUC online community on March 24 at 10am Japan time as we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem as Easter draws near. Rev. Tim Boyle will be preaching the message, “The Lord Has Need of You.”  Our liturgist is Betsy; the organist is Kazuko; Ruth and her puppet friends will bring the children’s message.

Scriptures:
Old Testament: Psalm 118:19-29 
New Testament: Luke 19:28-40

Hymns: “All Glory, Laud and Honor,” “Pass It On,” “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded.”

We hope that many of you will be able to come and worship with us!

Join the welcoming community of West Tokyo Union Church for an online worship service at 10am Sunday, March 17th. For our overseas members, remember that is 10am Japan time. Rev. Tim Boyle will be bringing us the message, “The Gospel According to the Life of Matthew.”  The Scripture readings are Isaiah 6:1-8 and Matthew 9:9-13. The hymns are: Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee (Ode To Joy), Just As I Am, and In Christ There Is No East or West.

Kazuko is our organist, Misae is preparing the slides and Ruth will be joined by her puppet friends to bring a lively children’s message.

Thank you to all who help make our services happen. Our small community is blessed by active members who hold each other up in prayer.

WTUC Sunday Worship Zoom Link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84094154793?pwd=UmhGUXlac1B1ZHMzY3ZBMnBHaWtuUT09

Meeting ID: 840 9415 4793. Passcode: 583756

We hope that many of you will be able to come and worship with the WTUC family!

Please join the West Tokyo Union Church community online for the second Sunday in Lent, February 25, 2024 at 10:00 am Japan Time.

Rev. Dr. Jim Sack will be preaching and the sermon title is, “Peter, Rock or Sand?” The scripture readings for this Sunday are Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16  and Mark 8:27-35.

The hymns will be: 
Abide With Me — When I Survey the Wondrous Cross —  Wide Open Are Your Hands

We hope that many of you will be able to join us via Zoom and worship with us!

Use the link below to join our service at 10am Japan Standard Time:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84094154793?pwd=UmhGUXlac1B1ZHMzY3ZBMnBHaWtuUT09

Meeting ID: 840 9415 4793

Passcode: 583756

This Sunday, Feb. 18, is the first Sunday in Lent. You are welcome to join us for our online worship at 10am. Our preacher this Sunday is Rev. Tim Boyle who will be preaching on “The Gospel According to the Life of Mark.”

Our liturgist will be Betsy, our organist is Kazuko and the slides are prepared by Ann. Ruth will provide a children’s message with the help of her puppet pals. The scripture passages are: Mark 14:43-51 and Acts 15:36-41.

The online link to join us for our Sunday online services is here:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84094154793?pwd=UmhGUXlac1B1ZHMzY3ZBMnBHaWtuUT09

Meeting ID: 840 9415 4793

Passcode: 583756

We hope to see you online on Sunday at 10am Japan Standard Time!

This Sunday, February 4th, Rev. Tim Boyle will be preaching at our online 10am Japan time worship service. The liturgist will be Steve Eskildsen, our organist is Kazuko Sacon and the slides are prepared by Misae Urata and Ann Tang. Ruth Ingulsrud will give the children’s message with help from her puppet friends.

The hymns will be:  “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty” — “When Peace Like A River” — “Be Still My Soul.” The scripture readings for this Sunday are: Psalm 103 and James 5:7-11. 

WTUC Sunday Worship Zoom Link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84094154793?pwd=UmhGUXlac1B1ZHMzY3ZBMnBHaWtuUT09

Meeting ID: 840 9415 4793

Passcode: 583756

About Our Speaker: 

Tim Boyle is a native of Arizona and earned a B.S. in physics from Arizona State Univ. and received an NSF fellowship at Florida State Univ. to get a PhD in weather science.  That, however, was interrupted by the draft and the Vietnam War. God used that, however, to direct his steps into going into the ministry.  Tim received M. Div. and D. Min. degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary. Tim first studied Japanese at the East-West Center in Hawaii in 1967-68 and then served as a short-term missionary for 3 years on the northern island of Hokkaido from 1971-74. He married Yuko, a native of Japan, in 1974 before entering seminary. He is a member of the California-Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Tim and Yuko (Juji) Boyle were first appointed to serve in Japan in 1982 by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in a joint appointment with the United Methodist Church. Their first assignment was to a rural church in Hokkaido, and then from 1986, they served for 21 years at the Tsukuba Christian Center in Tsukuba Science City. His last assignment until retirement in 2016 was as a professor at Kwansei Gakuin Univ.  They presently reside in the Penney Retirement Community in Florida and spend their summers in Japan.

We hope that many of you will be able to come and worship with us!