Join us this Sunday!
Dear WTUC Family,
I hope that you had a wonderful summer “break” as we spent some time visiting different congregations and worshiping with other members of Christ’s body during the past couple of months. So much has taken place, including our big WTUC Summer Youth Camp as well as connecting with those at Tokyo Union Church and Yokohama Union Church for collaboration during the upcoming year. We also have Ann Tang leading up the Steering Committee and Jordan Haywood joining us as Assistant Pastor. We certainly have an exciting year coming up. If you had not had a chance to read the welcome letter from Ann, please check it out here.
Coming up this Sunday, we are gathering for our Opening Sunday! We will be gathering at our usual location on the campus of Japan Lutheran College and Theological Seminary in Room 105. Our service will begin at 11:00 a.m., and we will be observing the Lord’s Supper during worship. Afterward, we are going to have a time of fellowship, and so please bring finger food or a snack for us to be able to share together. For more details, please check out our Calendar page here.
There is one important note for me to share with our congregation. Rev. Anne Devorah Umipig-Julian, who was serving as a support pastor at Yokohama Union Church and has preached at West Tokyo Union Church, went to be in the presence of the Lord this past Thursday. I will include the note from Pastor Clauda Genung-Yamamoto of Yokohama Union Church below this letter. Please keep Pastor Debbie’s family in your prayers as well as YUC for peace and comfort during this time of grief.
Please also keep our congregation in prayer as we have some who are ill and are not doing well. We will be spending some time praying for them during Prayers of the People this Sunday.
I look forward to seeing you on Sunday. Have a wonderful rest of the week!
Blessings,
Jonathan
Letter from Pastor Claudia:
In Loving Memory
With deep sadness, and yet with hope in Christ, we share the news of the death of Anne Devorah Umipig-Julian (Pastor Debbie) from cancer. She passed away on September 3 at St. Luke's Hospital in Tokyo.
Pastor Debbie was a faithful servant of Christ, a beloved pastor, missionary, Yokohama Christian School teacher's assistant and YCS chaplain (from 2023 to 2025), social worker, mother, counselor, and a cherished friend to so many. Through her ministry, kindness, wisdom, and love, Pastor Debbie touched countless lives and helped many people experience the grace and love of God.
We give thanks to God for the gift of Debbie's life and ministry, for the friendships we shared, the prayers we offered together, the laughter and conversations we enjoyed, and the many ways she helped others.
Though our hearts are heavy with grief, we do not grieve as those who have no hope. We entrust dear Debbie into the loving and eternal care of God, trusting in the promise of Christ that death does not have the final word.
“I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live.”
— John 11:25
May God comfort her husband Ronald, her boys Josh and Matt, her family, friends, and all who mourn. And may we give thanks for a life faithfully lived, a ministry lovingly offered, and a friendship that will remain in our hearts.
A Celebration of Life service will be on October 3rd at 3pm at Yokohama Union Church. We look forward to gathering together to remember Debbie and give thanks for her life and ministry, and to celebrate the hope we have in Christ.
May the light of God's eternal love shine upon her.
“Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord…
‘Blessed indeed,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors.’”
— Revelation 14:13
In prayer and sympathy,
Rev. Claudia
Yokohama Union Church Senior Pastor and Yokohama Christian School Chaplain