Parents – this Craig’s Corner is not for you! Please pass this to your child as you read this. Don’t read past this line. This message is for your kids, your grandkids, your nieces and your nephews. Okay, now that I’ve got you alone, hello! If we haven’t talked in person, I’m the pastor of your church, Rev. Craig and I want you to know that YOU are important. Yes, you. The person reading this article. It is my hope and dream to make Berkeley Methodist United Church into YOUR church. Not your parent’s church. Not your grandparent’s church. But YOUR church. I want it to be a place you will have fond memories of far into your adult years. I hope one day as you reflect on your faith, you’ll look back and say, “I’m … [Read more...]
Craig’s Corner 2020 February
Why the history of our church is so important… Even though today our church serves people of all ethnicities, we definitely have our origins in the Japanese-American community. Formed during a time of prejudice and hatred toward “the other” there were many laws out there designed specifically with Asian immigrants in mind. The California Alien Land Laws of 1913 and 1920 were written to discourage immigrants from Asia and primarily Japan while simultaneously making life purposefully more difficult for those already living here. It was even upheld by the Supreme Court and wasn’t invalidated until 1952 in the case of Sei Fujii v. California. The environment for people of Japanese descent was hostile to say the least. When the United Methodist Church (then … [Read more...]
Craig’s Corner 2020 January
My hopes and dreams for 2020… This is the month of new beginnings! It is also the month which we celebrate that lauded humanitarian, visionary, and civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. So in that spirit, I wanted to share with you my hopes and dreams for our church in the year 2020. Increase in outreach – The mission of every church is to make disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. And our church vision which we crafted together of “Transforming Lives Through Christ’s Love” is part of that mission. To do that, we need to reach out into the community more often and in new and different ways. It will mean embracing our community and its people with love and kindness, celebrating their differences and realizing … [Read more...]
Craig’s Corner 2019 December
It’s the MOST wonderful time of the year! I can’t argue with that sentiment. I LOVE Christmas. When I was little, I loved it because of the anticipation of Santa, the annual Mattel Electronics game or die-cast metal Japanese toy my parents would give to me, and my early morning experiments at cooking breakfast for me and my sister Karen. What an eclectic menu! Beef and potato burritos, bologna and blue cheese on toast, and peanut butter and butter on toast were among my specialties. Now, I look forward to the season maybe even more than just the specific day. I love the cool winter weather (when we lived in Georgia, we might actually see snow!), decorating the house with family, excursions to see Santa, driving through the neighborhood and seeing … [Read more...]
Craig’s Corner 2019 November
Who Are The People In Our Neighborhood? Can you imagine a time when you were FORCED to live in a certain area because of your racial identity? When you didn’t have the freedom to live where you wanted to live? I know some of you can because you lived it. Not that long ago, the laws in the Berkeley area segregated Japanese and Japanese-Americans to a specific section of the city. Good ol’ progressive Berkeley. This church was within the boundaries where “people like us” were allowed to live. Can you imagine that? We were graciously allowed to live in this neighborhood away from those who didn’t want us. But God didn’t let that stop the work for the Kingdom. Instead, God planted a church right here through the work of our Issei loved … [Read more...]
Craig’s Corner 2019 October
The Next 90 Years… As we approach our 90th anniversary celebration, we will be reflecting on the past and praising God for what God has done through us and in us for those around us. We will lift up the ministries that have brought us to this day and give thanks for their success and for the people who made it a success. We want to honor the work of our pastors and our church members who have tirelessly given of themselves to create so many disciples for Jesus Christ right here on this property in the middle of Berkeley, CA. We will give thanks for the many inspirational leaders who have come out of this church because of our love and dedication; leaders such as Bishop Grant Hagiya, DS Rev. Mark Nakagawa, DS Rev. Derek Nakano, and so many more that honestly I … [Read more...]
Craig’s Corner 2019 September
ChangesA little over a year has gone by and it has been a whirlwind of change.Under normal circumstances, change is difficult. And these have not been normal circumstances. As you can imagine, after having the same pastor for 20+ years, having a new one assigned to your church can be quite a culture shift. Some of our members have never known another pastor! So regardless of who came in, it was going to be a challenge for everyone. There are people who have embraced the change and some who have had a tough time with it, but no matter how we faced it, change was here. And it seemed to keep coming.Any time there is a shift in church leadership, things get re-examined as fresh eyes look at familiar situations. Maybe something we’ve grown used to is seen in … [Read more...]
Craig’s Corner 2019 August
MISSION: It’s Possible! We have a mission – to reach people for the love of Jesus Christ and to make new disciples for his Kingdom. That mission is one we pursue out of love of God and love of our fellow human beings. But have we always done a good job of it? Have we remained focused? Has that always been at the forefront of our minds? Bishop Carcano has challenged all of our churches to make new disciples by engaging our community and she named the Bay District as the first to begin a pilot program to see how effective we could be at doing so. It’s called Mission: It’s Possible. Back in February, pastors were asked to create a team of lay members who would be open and receptive to such a plan, people who would offer not only support, but new ideas … [Read more...]
Craig’s Corner 2019 July
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. – Matthew 6:1-4 Don’t talk about money! That’s one of the first things I was told when I served my first historically-Japanese church. “Don’t talk about money.” The impression was that a pastor … [Read more...]
Craig’s Corner, 2019 June
Father’s Day is coming! It’s one of my favorite days of the year. Not because of presents and cards and such (although those are always appreciated), but because I am reminded how blessed I am to be a father and what that means to me personally. I know not everyone is as fortunate as I have been. Not only do I have a wonderful daughter and stepdaughter (who has been like my very own most of her life), but I also still have my dad around with whom I have some very fond memories. But I also love Father’s Day because I am reminded of our Heavenly Father. Not that I imagine God as having a gender. I think God can be both, either, or neither, and however you most identify with God is totally acceptable. For me, I find it easy to identify with God … [Read more...]
