Japanese church gives $100,000 for United Methodist work
In a previous trip to Japan, the Rev. R. Randy Day, top staff executive
of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, rings the bell of
peace in Hiroshima. The bell was dedicated in 1964 in the hopes that
"all nuclear arms and wars be gone and the nations live in true peace." A
UMNS photo by Taka Ishii.
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By Elliott Wright*
Aug. 3, 2007 | NEW YORK (UMNS)
The Hiroshima Nagarekawa Church has given $100,000 to the United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries for mission work in East Asia.
The gift, the proceeds from the sale of property, honors the late
Rev. James William Lambuth, who organized the Nagarekawa church – now
part of the United Church of Christ in Japan – in 1887 and also started
three Japanese Christian schools, one in Hiroshima.
"We are humbled and thankful for the generosity of Nagarekawa Church
in a way that recalls its Methodist heritage and also reminds us of the
work of J.W. Lambuth," said the Rev. R. Randy Day, the board’s chief
executive.
Lambuth, who was born in 1830 and died in 1892, was a member of a
remarkable family that provided several generations of missionaries and
other church leaders. The Lambuths were particularly linked to the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in the states of Louisiana,
Mississippi and Tennessee. Lambuth College in Jackson, Tenn., bears the
family name.
Board officials said that the gift will be used to strengthen the
denomination’s mission work in China, Japan, Mongolia and Siberia,
although no specific projects have yet been identified. Mission work in
China, Japan and Siberia has historical links to Lambuth family members.
The congregation in Hiroshima had several names over the years,
taking its current name in 1927. The next year, Methodist-owned land was
donated for the construction of a new building that included a
sanctuary seating 500 people.
The Nagarekawa building was reduced to rubble when the United States
dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. The pastor and the
surviving members began holding services before Christmas of that year
on the spot where the church had stood.
In 1946, representatives of The Methodist Church came to inspect the
situation and, eventually, local and mission funds were collected to
rebuild. The congregation began a kindergarten and an English school.
"Nagarekawa" is the name of a district in Hiroshima, which is a
completely new city since 1945. The city today has 1.2 million people
and is home to several automobile manufacturers including the Mazda
Motor Company.
During World War II, the Japanese government forced mainline
Protestant denominations to combine in the United Church (Kyodan), which
continues today and is a mission partner of Global Ministries and The
United Methodist Church.
James William Lambuth was himself a third generation minister and
missionary. He served in China in the mid 1850s before moving to Japan,
where he established the mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South. He was instrumental in founding the Kwansei Gakiun (educational
complex) in Nishinomiya, the Palmore Institute in Kobe, and the
Hiroshima Girl’s School. He died in Japan and is buried in Kobe.
Lambuth’s son, the Rev. Walter Russell Lambuth, was both a pastor and
a medical doctor. He also worked in China and Japan and in 1910 was
elected top executive of the Board of Missions of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South. He was later a bishop with responsibility for
the mission work in Japan, Korea, Mexico, Africa and Siberia.
*Wright is the information officer for the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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