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Kitami Church
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| Visitors' Guide Kitami Church was founded in 1900 and is the oldest church in Kitami. This congregation is part of Church of Christ in Japan, which is in the tradition of Presbyterian and Reformed church, and is the oldest Protestant denomination in Japan. Presbyterians and Reformed church trace their roots to the Protestant reformation of the 16th Century, particularly to John Calvin of Geneva. Brief History of Kitami Church Kitami Church was founded by Christian settlers from Kochi Prefecture led by Chokkan Sakamoto, who was a member of Kochi Church (Church of Christ in Japan) and later became a minister. They came to this land and founded a farm company named Hokkosha in 1897. They first began their Sunday morning service on May 25, 1900 at the office house of Hokkosha. While Dr. and Mrs. Pierson, missionary of PCUSA and his Episcopal wife, frequently paid their visit to the Christians here, a missionary post was build in 1903, and then it was moved to the center of the town and a new church building was made in 1913. In 1922 the church grew and came to be able to support itself. In 1914 Dr. and Mrs. G. P. Pierson, who loved Japan and its people very much and are still loved and respected by many citizens of Kitami today, moved to Kitami from Asahigawa and assisted Kitami Church for the next fourteen years. After they had retired and left for the United States, a new church building was made in 1939, inside of which a kindergarten was newly founded and run by the church. During the Second World War the Christians had a very hard time maintaining their faith. The church building was taken over by the Army, and the Rev. Shinzo Miyoshi and Elder Manabu Togasa were arrested and taken into prison as American agents. After the war in 1951 Kitami Church joined together with other thirty-seven Presbyterian congregations a new Church of Christ in Japan in order to follow Presbyterian faith. They separated themselves from United Church of Christ in Japan, which had been formed with many Protestant denominations during the war. In 1969 a new building, the fifth one, was built in the present place, and in 1985 the kindergarten became independent. Kitami Church celebrated its hundredth anniversary on July 20, 2000. |