My Book Ⅰ
Written by Hiroyuki Ikeda
[No.2] My Church 1.15, 2013
Yesterday, Jan.14, was the Japanese national holiday ‘Coming of Age Day’ and also in my church, last Sunday Jan. 13, we celebrated young men in our Sunday worship. It was my first Sunday morning worship of this year. I went to church with my wife but my wife is not a believer in Christianity. In our worship, we celebrated only 2 young believers this year. As you know, these days, our church is also entering an era of low fertility and lack of faith, so the number of young people has decreased a lot in every area.
It was my 16th Christmas, when my brother and I were baptized in this church and it’s been 57 year since my baptizing. I was a 2nd grade high school student and my brother Masanori was in 2nd grade of junior high school. I was a very devout Christian at that time and I worked as a teacher in the Sunday school in my university days. After I got a job, I worked hard in my company in Osaka and my foot went gradually further from my church but I married with my wife Chieko in 1972 in this church at age 32. Since that time, I would say I have been a very devout Christian. My family was a family of Christians, which has lasted three generations. My grandfather had a zealous desire to learn and he met Christianity in his young days and became a teacher of mission school. His daughter, my mother, was also a devout Christian and became a teacher of a mission high school and I became a Christian naturally.
By the way, our red brick farmer church was built in 1922,Taisho 11, and before it fell in the earthquake of Jan. 17, 1995, the church had been familiar to Kobe citizens. It was a beautiful Gothic-style church. In 2004, 10 years after the great earthquake, a beautiful new red brick church was rebuilt with valuable donations. Now I’ve become old and I have lots of time, but I skip church attendance quite often. I must attend worship more.
This week is our church’s memorial day for the big calamity of the great earthquake of 1995. I will begin a hopeful new start of this year at this service and I’ll pray for our good health and happiness to my God.
神戸栄光教会は2011年10月23日に創立125周年を迎えた。創立者はウォルター.A.ランバス師で、アメリカ南部メソジストキリスト教会の支援を受けた第11代日野原善輔牧師によって1922年（大正11年）旧れんが造りの教会が建てられた。日野原牧師は102歳で今でも現役の医師、聖路加国際病院日野原重明理事長の父上である。2011年10月25日、日野原先生は教会の創立125周年の記念の説教をされた。その教会堂は1995年1月17日に起きた阪神大震災で崩落したが、旧教会は信者の献金で2004年10月に前と同じようなれんが造りの教会に再建された。