Events
FREE Movie Nights on Friday Nights in July and August!!
Pre Easter-Lent Study/Services
Easter Service & Pot-Luck Lunch, March 23rd at 11AM, FREE!!
Thanksgiving Service & Dinner, Nov. 18th at 11AM, FREE!!
The
Drama Ministries Ensemble of Northwestern College Thursday,
June 28th, at 7:30 p.m. Everybody is welcome!
They
will present three Ancient Israelite plays:
The
Jars of Oil, Namaan's Leprosy and The Bands of Syria
Harvest Time TV Ministry
50th Anniversary / 110th Anniversary Event
Report of General Synod of the RCA
Special Ministry to Japanese (SMJ)
Japanese American United Church (JAUC) will present ‘Summer Friday Movie Night’ for three days in this July and August. Following is the schedule and details.
Date & Movie title:
July 11th ‘Remember the Titans’
July 25th ‘The Spitfire Grill’
August 8th ‘Miss Potter’
Time: 6 pm Doors open and light refreshment will be served
7 pm movie starts
Around 9 pm the movie will finish and the doors will close
Place: JAUC -255 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY
Subway no.1 ‘23rd street’
The church is located between 24th and 25thStreet on 7th Avenue
Admission: Free
Contact: info@jauc.org or call (212)242-9444 Wed. to Fri. 10 am
to 5 pm
Detail: www.jauc.org (after June 29)
All movies have Japanese or English subtitles.
All are welcome.
Summaries:
“Remember The Titans” is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer,
who also produced blockbuster movies such as, “Armageddon”
and ”The National Treasure” This movie is also an exciting
film about football which takes in Virginia during 1971. During this
time the United States was plagued by racism not only in society but
in the schools. The Titans football team comprised of black and white
players, had to confront the challenges of racism to become a successful
football team.
Although, the movie talks about uncomfortable topics such as “racism”
and “friendship between diverse cultures and races, it brings
awesome entertainment to everyone who loves football and routing for
the “underdog”.
Miss Potter
This movie introduces to the viewer the extraordinary life of Beatrix
Potter, who was the writer of the world-wide best seller book “Peter
Rabbit”
Not only is this a love story between Potter and her fiancee, but it is a movie which introduces the central theme of ecology and the protection of nature in England. This movie will bring out the interesting theme of Eco-life.
Actress Rene Zellweger, who also starred in the “Brigit Jones’ Diary” and “CHICAGO” shows off her excellent acting in this movie.
The Spitfire Grill
Percy came to this old isolated town in the forest and began to work
in a diner owned by a very difficult woman. As time goes by, Percy begins
to change the lives of people through her calm personality. She becomes
“ an oasis” in which people who are hurting are “healed”
through her. But Percy has a secret and a past-she used to be in the
prison for murder…
This is a very spiritual movie which talks and brings out the central theme of :people who can not live without each other’s help or love. In addition, this movie brings to everyone the every important Christian theme of learning how to forgive and be forgiven.
Feb. 6-March 19-Bilingual Japanese Lenten Study led by Rev. Yugo Suzuki-7 Wed nights, 7-9PM
Feb. 6-Ash Wednesday Service,(after Lenten Study)
Mar. 16-Palm Sunday Service, 11AM
Mar. 20-Maundy Thursday Service, 7PM (Join us for soup at 6PM)
Mar. 21-Good Friday Service, 7PM
Easter
Worship Service & Pot Luck Lunch
JAUC will hold Easter Worship Service & Pot Luck Lunch on Sunday
March 23rd at 11AM.
Also, there will be an Easter Egg Hunt and Egg Coloring time for kids.
All are welcome!
Volunteers are needed!
Donations are welcome! RSVP by March 20th: Call (212) 242-9444 or email
info@jauc.org
Thanksgiving
Worship Service & Dinner
JAUC will hold Thanksgiving Worship Service & Dinner on Sunday November
18th at the Social Hall.
All are welcome!
Volunteers are needed!
Donations are welcome! RSVP by Nov. 14: Call (212) 242-9444 or email info@jauc.org
also:
This year at JAUC, our Christmas gifts will be sent to the Mennonite Central
Committee. The Mennonites have mission projects in over 70 countries around
the world. The Mennonite community is small but they are highly regarded
for their emphasis on peace and social welfare. Their presence can be
found in refugee camps and disaster areas, in vocational training and
literacy, in work with street kids and HIV/AIDS. We are collecting items
for school kits and health kits. The school kit includes notebooks and
pencils – very common items and yet if a child does not have them,
he/she cannot have a meaningful education. The health kit includes toothpaste
and soap. (The complete lists are available in the Social Hall.) Small
gifts from us have a powerful impact on people who have very basic needs.
In Social Hall, there is a large decorated box in which you may place
the items for the kits and a smaller box for your monetary gifts, if you
prefer. Deadline is November 18th, Thanksgiving Sunday. We will have a
dedication and blessing of the gifts during our dinner. Please be generous
in helping with this project.
The
Drama Ministries Ensemble of Northwestern College
On
Thursday, June 28th, at 7:30 p.m., JAUC will host the Drama Ministry
Team of ten college students and their professor from Northwestern College
in Orange City, Iowa.They will present three Ancient Israelite plays:
The Jars of Oil, Namaan's Leprosy and The Bands of Syria. They will
also demonstrate "enacted prayer," a way of dramatizing our
prayer requests.
Northwestern is one of the three RCA colleges and it was the Third Reformed Church in Orange City that sent work teams to JAUC two years in a row after the events of 9/11.
This is an excellent opportunity to invite friends, neighbors and coworkers to our church.
You
can obtain more information about this ministry at
http://nwciowa.edu/theatre/touring.aspx
SMJ decided to no longer call an individual coordinator but will continue to wrestle with the task of determining what those new models of cooperative ministry might be, and what forms they might take in the near future.
On June 27th, there was a celebration of the ministry since 1976 and a farewell reception for Rev. Brian Kido.
Japanese Bible Study -Every Sunday 9:30-10:30 am, led by Mrs. Gorman.
Basic
Bible Study -Sunday 10:00 am.
(Friendship with God led by Mrs. Nozomi Brownell)
Basic
Japanese language study begins Sunday morning from 10:00am. We will
use bi-lingual Bibles as the textbook. Anyone from age 10 on up who is
interested in learning basic Japanese please attend
(more about our Bible Studies)
If you would like to offer a flower arrangement for the Sunday altar flowers please sign up in the fellowship hall or contact us
Galilee Gathering: The Calilee Gathering will focus on helping elder members of the congregation, espcially those who are living alone, with documenting their wishes and making arrangements for one's dying with dignity.
Immanuel Gathering: This gathering will also focus on the elder members of the congregation, but instead of documenting will provide opportunity for spiritual support through sharing concerns with one another and the church. We want to look at issues such as anxieties about the future through our faith as we learn to appreciate God's grace. We want to welcome all the seniors. Please contact Shigeko Arai or Michiko Gorman for more information.
110th & 50th Anniversary Report
We thank Masahiko Hori who served as the coordinator for the Anniversary events. It was a wonderful weekend of special services with approximately 140 in attendance honoring the past, being inspired for the present ministry, and looking forward. We would like to acknowledge the extraordinary service to JAUC of the following people: Haruko Akamatsu, Sara Haruyama, Rev. & Toshiko Shimomura Rev. & Mrs. Arthur Kamaistuka, Rev. Akio Onodera; Shigeko Arai, Kumiko Baumann, Tats Fujii, Hideko Iyoda, Junko Hasegawa Noguchi, Hiroshi Ohori, Richard & Hisako Okuda, Isako Otani, Kinko Poulsen, Yasuo & Emi Kamihara, Lawrence & Suzuko Kern, Seongki Kim, Ken Kurihara, Dean & Kaori Kusakabe, Harry Kuwada, Denvil & Kazuko Robinson, Fujio Saito, Masayo Sonoda, Ei Suzuki, Miyako Tokita, Yoshiko Watanabe, Kazuo Yamaguchi, George & Kimi Yuzawa.
Haruyama Ministerial Scholarship News This scholarship was create in honor of Rev. Justin Haruyama who served JAUC 1972 - 1980 and passes on at age 47. This years recipients are: Kuniko Mori (Asbury Seminary), Yukako Sakamoto (Asbury Seminary), Motoe Yamada (Pacific School of Religion) each will receive $1,000 toward the preparation for Christian ministry.
Living Stones Memorial Having received donations the Board set a budget of $2,000 for the creation of a wooden cross with the carved inscription; "Gratitude for Unlimited Blessings" the quotation from Hiroshi Matsuo a long time member and supporter of the mission of JAUC. There will be a place at the foot of the cross for the stones etched with the names of the church goers.
History & Photo Exhibition The Historical and photo exhibition we remain on display on 3rd floor through Christmas. We are glad so many are spending time at the display.
Report of General Synod of the RCA
Since one of our parent denominations is the Reformed Church in America. Pastor Brownell attended the General Synod meeting and reports as follows: Rev. John Chang, president of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America is calling us to refocus on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He urged the churches to become houses of prayer that we might be more attentive to and move with the Holy Spirit.
The
Mission Statement of the RCA
"The Reformed Church in America is a fellowship of congregations called
by God and empowered by the Holy Spirit to be the very presence of Jesus
Christ in the World. Our shared task is to equip congregations for ministry-a
thousand churches in a million ways doin one thing-following Christ in
mission, in a lost and broken world so loved by God.
The
Ten-Year Goal of the RCA is:
"Following Christ in mission together, led by the Holy Spirit, and working
with all the partners God provides, we believe that God is calling the
Reformed Church in America over the next ten years to focus its efforts
and resources on
*starting new congregations and
*revitalizing existing congregations thereby empowering fruitful and faithful
ministries for the glory of God".
Iowa Volunteer Team -- Spring Cleaning & Renovations
We were blessed again this year by the coming of some 23 volunteers from First Reformed Church of Orange City Iowa and several more from Fordham Manor church in the Bronx who helped us with renovations. All of the windows on the east side of the building were replaced (except the stained-glass); more repairs were completed on the electrical wiring system; regarding painting: the entry-way, entire basement (including kitchen) and the forth floor were repainted; new shelving was built and installed for the Sunday School as well. We are grateful for all of the volunteers from JAUC who came to clean, paint, and or prepare meals. It was a wonderful week serving together.
We received a letter from Roesner family.
"Dear Jauc family,
We are back home, rested up, and back to our daily routine. We enjoyed having the Brownell's visit Orange City and First Reformed Church. Pastor Nathan and Nozomi had a very special morning service.
It was a real adjustment for me to have to cook our meals again. We were so spoiled by the great cooks in your church. Matt and Claire feel like they really got to see a lot of NYC in such a short time. What an opportunity for our family. We especially want to thank the ladies who brought special presents for Claire. And a huge thank you to Hatsumi for all the precious origami boxes with cany and rhe nice cards she brought for our group.
The friendships we made will not quickly fade. We would be so excited to have any of you visit Orange City and stay in our home. Thanks again for the memories.
Roesner family Steve, Laurie, Matt and Claire "