2023-09-21 Good News

On Sunday, October 1, Japantown (and Wesley UMC) will almost be entirely cut off due to the Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon that day. Crossing the race route is difficult and sometimes impossible. This year there is no information on how to cross the race route. However, you can still make it to church if you follow one of these two suggested routes: 1. "The Overpass Route"From 880: Take the Coleman ex...

Dear Wesley UMC Community, A while ago I wrote about a mysterious plant in our backyard, that we thought was dead but suddenly bloomed.   The plant, it turns out, is called Queen of the Night or Tan Hua (for those who watched the movie Crazy Rich Asians). The flowers bloom at night, and then wilt before dawn. Because the Queen of the Night blossom is so fleeting, when the flower does bloom, it r.....

聖書には「律法」がよく登場しますが、ユダヤの世界での戒律としての律法と、新約の世界での主イエスが教えられた「キリストの律法」とでは、その意味するところが随分違います。まず旧約の律法ですが、ユダヤ教の伝統では、旧約聖書は「律法」、「預言」、「諸書」の三つに分けられ、律法は旧約聖書の最初の五書（創世記、出エジプト記、レビ記、民数記、申命記）を指しています。その根本には、ユダヤの民と神との契約である「モーセの十戒」があることは良く知られていますが、その後430年の間に神から与えられたモーセの律法には613の規則があるとされ、この十戒は、その最初の十条であると位置づけられました。 更に個々の律法には詳しい解説や教えが付け加えられ、その数は数千にもなるそうです。従って、律法を正確に守ることは、当時の律法学者と呼ばれた人々にしかできないことになりました。新約聖書でこの律法学者がしばしば悪役で登場する...

Writer/Director Mark Teage is getting the cast of "Doors Open" together again, this time to make an audio recording of the play to distribute as a podcast. The show, which portrays a church struggling with the issue of LGBTQIA inclusion, was originally produced at Wesley in 2018 and performed in many churches around the bay and central valley. "We're excited about this new chapter in the life of '...

Have you noticed some new faces in Wesley's Praise Band? Our regulars include Marilyn (keys) and Ted Hasegawa (guitar and vocals), Todd Soo-Hoo (drums), and Ichiro Bakoshi (bass). Joining them are Ryan Miyahara (guitar, drums), Jake Shimada (ukulele and vocals), Joanne Miyahara (keys and vocals), Dave Land (vocals), Tina Urata (ukulele, guitar, and vocals), and Ashley Cook (vocals). Working behind...

To clarify a bit of confusion regarding the proper disposal of the church’s garbage and recycling, new labels have been applied on the containers in the church.  There will be only two designations: “TRASH/RECYCLE” and “ORGANICS”.   Our garbage service separates the recycling items from the trash at their facility.TRASH/RECYCLING (formerly “dry”):  TRASH:  snack wrappers, plastic: bags/food wrap, ...

Through the Pandemic, many of us have been meeting twice a month on “Zoom”, and now we are hoping to transition back to the church on the last Tuesday of each month. We will continue the Zoom meetings on the second Tuesday. We hope to adjust our meetings as needed.Our next meeting will be Tuesday. September 26th in the Fellowship Hall at 9:00 to 11:00am. We’ll have Coffee/Tea and some light refres...

Yay, Sunday School!! On Sunday, Sept 10th, we welcomed back children and teachers for the start of God’s Garden Sunday School year. We blessed backpacks, presented a Bible to our 3rd Grader and had a great Fellowship lunch afterwards. It was great to see the sanctuary filled with our children, youth and teachers. Thank you to everyone who helped make Rally Sunday so special for the children and th...

The church is looking for donations for our Trunk ‘N’ Treats event held at the end of October. It can be in the form of a monetary contribution to purchase treats (please put TnT Outreach Ministry on the memo line of the check) or donations of small toys and/or candy is happily accepted. Your contributions needs be brought to the church office by Sunday, Oct. 29.This is all part of our outreach mi...

A new security fencing has been installed to safeguard church staff, the congregation, and church property after other attempts to improve security did not resolve issues around trespassing, property crime, break-ins, and unauthorized use of church property.So what will change? For the vast majority of the congregation, there will be no change. The motorized gate for the 5th Street parking lot and...

Pat Higuchi was in church on Rally Sunday after her fall on July 22 where she broke bones below her knee. She’s been home after rehab and continues to heal. She is working on strengthening her legs and as she does, her mobility gets better. We were so happy to see her on the mend.......

by Barbara Hiura - Whoa Rain? Really? Yes..rain greeted all of our Wesley families the Friday of Labor Day weekend at our annual Church Camp at Pinecrest Lake. And it continued pretty much all weekend clearing up on to bright sunny climes when we left on Monday. While this is the lead-in to our camp weekend, it was not the highlight, just a minor distraction. Yes, it was wet. Yes it was cold, but ...

What is a celebration without food. Our hosts, Gods Garden Parents served up a Chinese lunch for all of us and we provided sides…well it was a huge colorful and filling meal. The desserts were to die for along with pizzas (see below) which disappeared in just minutes. Here we see John Moody and Alice Hikido dishing up a full plate for themselves. Our servers ate standing up: from left: Susan Shimi...

by Barbara Hiura - Did you notice? Did you feel that up lifting freshness in the church that comes but once a year? Did you smell that slight hint of scented pew wax on Sunday? Yes Yes Yes Our home, God’s home, is clean, from walls to windows, from top to bottom, Sanctuary, chapel, classrooms, offices, Fireside room, fellowship hall and even that grungy filthy greasy kitchen…all clean. And it took...

The Compassion Ministries Volunteer/Donor Appreciation Dinner is on Saturday, November 4 from 6-9pm. If you have volunteered for Compassion during 2023 or have donated specifically to our ministry, YOU and your guest are invited!! You know who you are, and we want to thank you.......

Lynn Tabuchi out did herself with the this second Ribbon Lei-making workshop. This time those participating in this umbrella ministry workshop, had wonderful brilliant colors and ribbon textures to chose from. What was not to like? Lynn provided a lovely lunch of chicken teriyaki, salads, musubi, inari sushi prior to the start and Dale Sasaki capped off the meal with a to die-for pound cake. Peopl...

During the month of August, our members were exhilarated to have special music performed by member of our church. On Aug. 19, our Ukulele virtuoso, Jake Shimada jointed the Praise Band for all the numbers played during service: “Cannons,” Build My Life,” “How God Loves,” and “Oceans,” Jake joined from left: Miyahara, Bakoshi, Dave Land, Todd SooHoo, and Joanne Miyahara.The final week in August, th...

“Maui Strong” Fundraiser at Roy’s Coffee StationThe Wesley Ukulele Band and Hula Dancers performed two 45 minute sets over a three hour span of time to help Roy’s Coffee Station raise money for Maui Relief on Aug. 26. The coffee place held a prize drawing as well for some really cool Hawaiian related items like a Spam motif cushion, a money lei, an ukulele, etc. It was a terrific Japantown event w...

On August 21, 2023, the Wesley United Women in Faith hosted a presentation and workshop with Katherine Parker, who is a missionary in Nepal.  She has been a missionary in Nepal for the last 10 years with the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church.  She is an advisor working with the United Mission to Nepal (UMN).The UMN is an ecumenical organization focused on “fullness ...

You as an individual or as part of a ministry/group/team are invited to participate by decorating your car trunk in any Halloween-appropriate theme and hand out treats or favors (supplied by your group and some by the church) to the approximately 300 children, all dressed in their favorite Halloween character as they flow into our church site. To add to the fun, you are all encouraged to dress-up ...

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Did you know that our Compassion Ministry is a DESIGNATED FUND? What is that you ask? It means that those of you who wish to financially support this particular ministry should indicate “Compassion Ministry” on the memo line of your contribution check or use the fund pull-down menu on Subsplash online giving. Contributions that are undesignated automatically go to the General Fund to support thing...

Our Japantown neighbors at Prayer Garden Church of God in Christ celebrated their 80th anniversary with a special service on Sunday, August 27. Located at 651 N Sixth St, Prayer Garden is just behind the Buddhist Church and across from Heinlenville Park. Prayer Garden is a black pentecostal church which has been pastored by Superintendent Paul D. Bates for more than 40 years. Church leaders from a...