North Shore Japanese Church (West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)

North Shore Japanese Church began as a house church, holding weekly Bible studies, and was founded on 3 May 2003 as a church plant of Mennonite Japanese Christian Fellowship with the intention of ministering to the Japanese community in West and North Vancouver. Takahiko "Yoshi" Yoshiyuki, pastor of the mother church, also pastored the daughter church.

The North Shore Japanese Church rented West Vancouver Baptist Church from May 2003 to December 2006, while holding services on Saturday evenings.  At the beginning of 2007, the congregation began conducting worship services on Sunday mornings at Harry Jerome Recreation Centre in North Vancouver. In 2010 the group returned to meeting as a house church. In addition to the Sunday morning service, the congregation meets for Bible Study on Wednesday mornings, and meets again for prayer time on Friday evenings.

A particular focus of the church has been to connect the next generation to the gospel.  The children’s Sunday school is in English, and they have started bi-lingual Sunday school services for the children to help teach them the language. While the children understand some Japanese, the group members feel it is important to teach them Japanese in order to have them better understand their cultural heritage.

In October 2006, North Shore installed Jong-Sun Kim, a Korean who can speak Japanese, to lead the congregation, with Yoshiyuki serving as co-pastor until March 2008, at which point he returned to Japan. Given the often strenuous relationship between Korea and Japan, the church felt that this was a positive step towards reconciliation.

In February 2023 the MCBC Conference reported that North Shore Japanese Church had closed.

Bibliography

Canadian Mennonite (September 18, 2006): http://www.canadianmennonite.org/vol10-2006/10-18/inconversation.php (accessed 23 June 2008).

Yoshiyuki, Takahiko. E-mail correspondence with Andrew Klager (28 June 2007).

Additional Information

Mailing Address: 151-10090 152 St., Suite #320, Surrey, BC   V3R 8X8

Meeting Address: Harry Jerome Recreation Centre, 123 East 23rd Street, North Vancouver, BC   V7L 3E2

Phone: 604-430-5145

Denominational Affiliations:

Mennonite Church British Columbia (2003-2022)

Mennonite Church Canada (2003-2022)

North Shore Japanese Church Membership

Year	Members
2006	11
2010	9
2015	12
2020	10

Author(s)	Andrew Klager
	Kelly Harms
Date Published	February 2016

Cite This Article

MLA style

Klager, Andrew and Kelly Harms. "North Shore Japanese Church (West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. February 2016. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=North_Shore_Japanese_Church_(West_Vancouver,_British_Columbia,_Canada)&oldid=175013.

APA style

Klager, Andrew and Kelly Harms. (February 2016). North Shore Japanese Church (West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=North_Shore_Japanese_Church_(West_Vancouver,_British_Columbia,_Canada)&oldid=175013.

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