Tokyo Baptist Church
Encyclopedia
Tokyo Baptist Church is an English speaking international Baptist
Church located in Shibuya
, situated in downtown Tokyo
, Japan
. Tokyo Baptist has 6 services every weekend (including a youth service on Sunday and an extra service on Saturdays) with an approximate attendance of 1,500.
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.
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. TBC also offers several programs and classes for membership care which include Biblical counseling and Celebrate Recovery.
35.650369°N 139.697637°W
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
Church located in Shibuya
Shibuya, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, it has an estimated population of 208,371 and a population density of 13,540 persons per km². The total area is 15.11 km²....
, situated in downtown Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Tokyo Baptist has 6 services every weekend (including a youth service on Sunday and an extra service on Saturdays) with an approximate attendance of 1,500.
Beginnings
The church originated as a Baptist fellowship of military personnel who felt led 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 StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to be sponsored by the Southern Baptist Convention
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
. In February 1959, ground was broken for the present structure and was dedicated on November 1, 1959.
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)
- 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)
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 DrivenPurpose Driven
The trademarked term purpose driven comes from the teaching of Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. It originally came into use as a paradigm taught to pastors and other Christian leaders worldwide to help them be more effective in leading their churches...
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
Saddleback Church
Saddleback Church is an evangelical Christian megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, situated in southern Orange County, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The church was founded in 1980 by pastor Rick Warren...
'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. TBC also offers several programs and classes for membership care which include Biblical counseling and Celebrate Recovery.
Trivia
- On January 5, 1958 Tokyo Baptist Church became the first church outside of the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to be supported by the Southern Baptist ConventionSouthern Baptist ConventionThe Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
. - In August 1964 Tokyo Baptist Church became the 101st member of the Japan Baptist ConventionJapan Baptist ConventionThe Japan Baptist Convention, or Nippon Baputesuto Renmei is a Baptist denominational body in Japan, related to the Southern Baptist Convention....
External links
- http://www.tokyobaptist.org/ Church Website
35.650369°N 139.697637°W