Holy Week and Easter Sunday, 2024

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 – March 24, 2024

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!

5th Sunday in Lent – Rev. Tim Boyle Preaching

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

Information 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 towards 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 the WTUC family!

Rev. Jim Sack Preaching – 2nd Sunday in Lent

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

Rev. Tim Boyle Preaching – First Sunday in Lent

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!

Rev. Tim Boyle Preaching – Online Worship – Sat. Feb. 4, 2024 at 10am Japan 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!

In-Person Worship on Jan. 21 at 10:30 am

Join us online or in-person at our regular meeting room on the campus of Japan Lutheran College in Mitaka. Please note the later meeting time: 10:30 am on Sunday, January 21.

WTUC member, Misae Urata, will be bringing the testimony message to our worship service; “Christ in Me Is to Live.”



Bible Verses: John 15.16
16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

Philippians 2:6-8 New King James Version (NKJV)
And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Hymns
Jesus Loves Me
Spirit Song
Create in Me in a Clean Heart

Speaker: Misae Urata — Liturgist: Esther Yomoah — Organ: Kazuko Sacon — Slides: Misae Urata — Tech Support: Mark Hisamatsu, Zeke Wilson — Overall support: Betsy Terada

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

In-Person Christmas Eve Service – Joint Worship Service with Mitaka Lutheran

Attention: In-Person only – Christmas Eve services on Sunday, December 24th

WTUC will have a joint Christmas service with Mitaka Lutheran Church on Dec 24, Christmas Eve. Please join us at 10:30 AM in the Lutheran church sanctuary. Kindly note the time and the location change.

The offerings on this day will go to Mitaka Lutheran Church. After service WTUC members will not have any further events. (Mitaka Lutheran Church will have their curry lunch separately).

There are Christmas Eve services at 4:30 PM and 7:00 PM offered by the Mitaka Lutheran Church (in Japanese). You are welcome to join their services. WTUC will resume online service on Dec 31 with Dan Witmer as our guest speaker.

A very blessed and Merry Christmas to all of you!

Sing the JOY of Christmas with WTUC

Christmas is coming! West Tokyo Union Church would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you to join us IN-PERSON or online for a Christmas Carol worship service held at 10am, Sunday, Dec. 17th at our regular meeting room on the campus of the Lutheran College in Mitaka. Here is a link to the WTUC website containing location information: https://wtuc.net/map/

We will have scripture readings by members of the congregation and we will be singing many well-loved Christmas carols accompanied by Kazuko on the organ. Here are some of the joyful songs that we will be singing:

Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming, Oh Little Town of Bethlehem, Away in a Manger, Angels We Have Heard on High, O Come All Ye Faithful, The First Noel, Joy to the World, Silent Night, Of the Father’s Love Begotten

We will end with some personal stories and sharing of Christmas memories by members of our congregation. Please join us for a delightful Sunday of Christmas music. Hope to see you there!

Anticipation and Hope: Joyful Living in Uncertain Times

Welcome to the First Sunday of Advent! Christmas is coming. Rev. Paul Shew will be preaching the message for our online service this coming Sunday, Dec. 3, and the message is entitled: “Anticipation and Hope: Joyful Living in Uncertain Times.”

We are, indeed, living in uncertain times, but this message will emphasize embracing joy and maintaining hope through faith, despite life’s uncertainties and dark times, by drawing on the prophecies of John and Isaiah and their fulfillment as reflected in 1 Thessalonians 5.

We hope that many of you will join us for the worship service via Zoom.

Scripture Readings: Old Testament: Isaiah 61:1-3 — Gospel Lesson: John 1:6-8 — Epistle Lesson: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22

Opening Hymn: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel — Hymn of Response: Hope of the World — Closing Hymn: Joy to the World

Upcoming Christmas events include:

  • Caroling at Nozomi no Ie …December 10
     
  • Christmas Singing Service … December 17 – IN-PERSON!
     
  • Joint Christmas Eve service with Mitaka Lutheran Church …December 24 – In-person in the chapel of the Japan Lutheran College: https://www.luther.ac.jp/language/en.html