Congregation in Japan Gives $100,000 for United Methodist Mission in East Asia

New York, NY, July 30, 2007—Hiroshima Nagarekawa Church, a congregation of the United Church of Christ in Japan, has given $100,000 to the United Methodist General 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 church 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 chief executive of Global Ministries.

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, TN, bears the family name, as does Lambuth Memorial United Methodist Church in Gallatin, TN.

The Rev. Kazuyoshi Morisawa is the current pastor of Nagarekawa Church; the Rev. Kanako Ebihara is associate pastor.

Officials of the General Board of Global Ministries said that the gift will be used to strengthen mission 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 US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 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.

J.W.’s son, the Rev. Dr. Walter Russell Lambuth, was both a pastor and a medical doctor. He also worked in China and Japan and in 1910 was elected general secretary 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.