Philippines

2015 Work Camp

The 2015 Work Camp in the Philippines is now under way. All the campers arrived safely on Friday and were warmly welcomed by our friends in the Episcopal Diocese of Central Philippines. There are four campers from Kobe Diocese, three from Kyushu and two from Okinawa, including one member of the clergy from each diocese. They will be working in two groups, one at Banlic and one at Jamboree Agape Episcopal Church, both under the pastoral care of Joe Medina.

Advent Tour

Members of various churches in Kyushu, together with Bishop Luke, Rev. Osada of Kobe Diocese and Rev. Iwasa of Okinawa Diocese, took part in this year’s Advent Tour to the Philippines (December 1st to 4th). We visited Sta. Ines and Banlic as well as EDCP offices in Quezon City, and enjoyed meeting many old and new friends. The fellowship and hospitality, and the extensive preparation especially by Rev Joe Medina (Akay), was much appreciated. The photo, taken by Rev. Echanes Cadiogan, shows all members of our group with one of the Banlic congregation at his home.

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Pastoral Changes 2014

Rev. Francis Horio has retired after his long service to Kyushu Diocese, and we wish him well as he spends more time with his family in retirement.

Since we have no new clergy this year, this has meant a series of changes to our pastoral coverage:
Rev. Mark Shibamoto has moved to Nagasaki to take over Holy Trinity, Nagasaki and the Church of the Resurrection in Sasebo.
Rev. Michael Lee has moved to Kokura to take over Immanuel Parish; he will also visit Tobata and Tsushima.
Rev. Stephen Nakamura is now pastor of our main church (cathedral), St Paul’s, in Fukuoka, and is also responsible for St John’s, Izuhara (Tsushima).
Rev. David Nakano has moved to Kurume, where he will also be responsible for St Luke’s, Saga.
Rev. John Lee has moved to Oita, and will also visit Nobeoka.
Rev. David Nakashima is still responsible for Okuchi, but has also taken over the Church of the Resurrection in Kagoshima, where he is now based.
Rev. Barnabas Ushijima is still in Nogata, but is now also responsible for Tobata rather than Tsushima.
Since Rev. Nakashima’s added responsibility for Kagoshima means he cannot visit Miyazaki regularly, and Rev. Catherine Yoshioka is still responsible for Nobeoka as well as Miyazaki, members of our congregation will now lead services twice a month at Holy Trinity, Miyazaki.

Bishop Dixie Taclobao of our sister diocese (The Episcopal Diocese of Central Philippines) suffered a heart attack last Friday. Please pray for his full recovery.

Bishop in Kokura

Bishop Luke will be presiding at a Holy Communion service with Baptism and Confirmation at Immanuel Church, Kokura, tomorrow.

Lent begins next week (Ash Wednesday, March 5th), so many churches will have special services on that day.

A work camp group led by Rev. Ushijima of Kyushu Diocese, Rev. Osada of Kobe Diocese, and Rev. Iwasa of Okinawa Diocese, arrived in Manila yesterday, and will be busy at two main locations until March 10th, when they are due to return to Japan.

Autumn Symposium

We are now officially in Autumn, having had a national holiday on Monday to mark Autumnal Equinox Day. Our diocese held a special event at the Church of the Resurrection in Kagoshima from Sunday evening to Monday afternoon. Read More...

September Events

There are always a lot of events at various churches, especially around the great festivals of the Christian calendar. Immanuel Church, Kokura celebrated 120 years of mission on September 8th. Read More...

Belated Update

I’m afraid I’ve neglected this blog for much too long this time, having added nothing to it since May. Since the official Japanese site now links to this English site (just click on the ENGLISH button on the top Japanese page) I really must make an effort to keep this blog, as well as the rest of the site, up to date.
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Philippine Work Camp 2013 - 6

All the work campers returned safely to Japan on Monday this week. There were a few health problems, but it was a good experience for everyone, I think. I’ll add a page for the Philippine Partnership to this web site soon. Meanwhile, I have uploaded a few photos to Facebook, and some of the campers and our Philippine friends have uploaded hundreds of others.

Thank you (Salamat) to everyone involved, both in the Philippines and in Japan, for making this a really worthwhile and memorable experience.

Philippine Work Camp 2013 - 5

The work camp is now well under way in Sta. (Santa) Ines. Read More...

Philippine Work Camp 2013 - 4

The main group of work campers left Fukuoka for the Philippines this morning, posting photos on Facebook, etc, when they had a stopover in Taipei. They have now arrived in Manila, where they are being welcomed by EDCP staff.

As my sister reminded me when she called to say “Happy Birthday”, today is also ‘World Day of Prayer’, and prayer meetings have been and are being held at churches around the world today.

Philippine Work Camp 2013 - 3

Preparations for this year’s work camp are well under way now. A preparatory meeting is being held at Kyushu Diocesan Centre today and tomorrow for most of those participating.

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Philippine Work Camp 2013 - 2

There are more participants than usual in the work camp this year. Also, they are from three dioceses: Kyushu, Kobe and Okinawa.
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Philippine Work Camp 2013

The deadline for applying to take part in this year’s Work Camp in the Philippines is January 15th.
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