Tokyo Baptist Church
| Southern Baptists |
|---|
|
Seminaries |
Tokyo Baptist Church (organized on January 5, 1958) is an English speaking international Baptist Church located in Shibuya, situated in downtown Tokyo, Japan.[1] Tokyo Baptist has 6 services every weekend [2] (including a youth service on Sunday and an extra service on Saturdays) with an approximate attendance of 1,500.[3]
History
Beginnings
The church originated as a Baptist fellowship of military personnel who felt an urge to begin a church which would meet the needs of English speaking Christians in Japan. On January 5, 1958 when the church was begun, W.H. Jackson, Jr. was called as the first pastor of Tokyo Baptist Church. On this day Tokyo Baptist Church became the first church outside of the United States to be sponsored by the Southern Baptist Convention. In February 1959, ground was broken for the present structure and was dedicated on November 1, 1959.[4]
Pastors
Throughout its history, Tokyo Baptist Church has gone through a total of 9 pastors. These, listed with the dates they were called include:
- W.H. "Dub" Jackson, Jr. (January, 1958)[5]
- Milton Dupriest (November, 1959)
- Marion Moorhead (October, 1963)
- Roy Edgemon (May, 1971)
- Marion Moorhead (October, 1975)
- Richard Horn (1981)
- William Warmth (Interim, 1990)
- Norman Wood (March, 1993)
- Dennis Folds (June, 1999)[6]
Current Pastors
- Senior Pastor : Dennis Folds
- Associate Pastor : Takeshi Yozawa
- Evangelism Pastor : Joel Cuellar
- Worship Pastor : Ted Oman
- Ministry Pastor : Akira Watanabe
- Student Ministries Pastor : Chris McCottry
- Multi-site Pastor : Sawma Buongpui
Offshoots
Two times in the history of Tokyo Baptist church have members decided to organize themselves as a separate church so as to better serve their communities respectively. These churches are:
- Chofu Baptist Church (organized March 7, 1965)
- Shibuya Baptist Church (organized November 9, 1975)
Current
Tokyo Baptist Church has taken part in the Purpose Driven program, officially announcing itself as a Purpose Driven church. As a part of the Purpose Driven movement TBC has instituted many structural changes, such as modelling ministry or the youth program after that of Saddleback Church's, promoting smallgroups and encouraging its members to begin new ministries. In 2004, Tokyo Baptist Church was awarded a Church Health Award for balancing the biblical purposes outlined in the program.[7][8] TBC also offers several programs and classes for membership care which include Biblical counseling and Celebrate Recovery.[9][10][11]
Affiliation
- On January 5, 1958 Tokyo Baptist Church became the first church outside of the United States to be supported by the Southern Baptist Convention.[12]
- In August 1964 Tokyo Baptist Church became the 101st member of the Japan Baptist Convention
References
- ↑ http://www.tokyobaptist.org/map/
- ↑ http://www.tokyobaptist.org/worship/
- ↑ http://www.tokyobaptist.org/sermons/20080113.htm
- ↑ Jackson, W.H.. Whatever It Takes. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group, 2003. ISBN 978-0-8054-2688-5
- ↑ Jackson, W.H.. Whatever It Takes. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group, 2003. ISBN 978-0-8054-2688-5
- ↑ http://www.tokyobaptist.org/staff/
- ↑ http://www.purposedrivenchurch.com/en-US/AboutUs/CHA/PreviousWinners.htm
- ↑ http://www.baptistpress.net/bpnews.asp?ID=18346
- ↑ http://www.tokyobaptist.org/biblicalcounseling/
- ↑ http://www.tokyobaptist.org/cr/
- ↑ http://www.tokyobaptist.org/classes/
- ↑ Jackson, W.H.. Whatever It Takes. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group, 2003. ISBN 978-0-8054-2688-5
External links
Coordinates: 35°39′01″N 139°41′51″E / 35.650369°N 139.697637°E