Personnel
by Alison Harada
How have you seen God at work in your ministry over the year?
God has blessed Tokyo Union Church with dedicated and talented staff who work hard to support and further TUC’s mission to God’s glory. We are grateful to all of our staff, from the Pastors to the office staff to the ministry staff to the facilities manager to the musicians to the nursery workers. It is a privilege for the Personnel Ministry Team to support them in their work.
In 2024, we said farewell to Pastor Steve Yamaguchi, who retired and returned to California in July. We are blessed to have Pastor Héctor Herrera as our new Senior Pastor, with a seamless transition thanks to his three years as our Associate Pastor.
Also in 2024, we welcomed Pastor Joseph Park as our Interim Associate Pastor, Xinema Leroux as our Pastoral Assistant for Youth & Children and JY Lee as our "Scholar in Residence" and Pastoral Assistant for church history. They joined the Reverend Jonathan Oh as the leader of our digital team, who leads our growing livestream ministry.
We are so grateful to our continuing staff including our music ministry team of Yuka Omi, the Sanctuary Choir Director, Remi Yamazaki, the Union Praise Team Director and our talented organists, Miwako Horii and Takako Hanabusa.
This year marked the 30th service anniversary of our Office Administrator, Megumi Naito and we are thankful for the many decades of loyal and dedicated service, as we are to our Finance Manager, Kats Mikami. Rounding out the team are Panmei Guiriangdinliu and Anna Yamaguchi, who provide loving care to the smallest members of our congregation. TUC would not be what we are today without each and every one of our beloved staff.
Could you list the activities and the engagement of your ministry this past year?
PMT serves as the “Human Resource(HR) Department” for TUC, handling contracts, hiring, evaluations and career development for our beloved staff.