 From our President
Dear Friends,
Blessings and greetings to you all in this season of our Lord's birth.
What a joy it has been this past month to be a member of St. Paul International Lutheran Church! In worship and study, in fellowship and friendship, we continue to grow and share together in ministry to our Lord. He continues to bless us with His ever guiding hand; leading us, pushing us, challenging us to do the work He requires. Because of the dedication and faithfulness of our members, old and new, we can continue on as a congregation and move forward into the future with confidence and trust in Him.
This past month, we have focused on our Stewardship theme, "Giving to God". We have begun to receive the pledges for the coming year and can now turn to preparing a list of ministry priorities based on this support. (If you have yet to turn in your pledge, please do so before the first week in January.) We have raised over 100,000yen to purchase a new computer (THANK YOU!) and are seeking nominations and volunteers to join in the work of the church council. The year 2008, is going to be a busy one for our congregation!
Each week during our Stewardship time, a handout was included in the bulletin. In case you missed it(!), I want to share this one with you "Giving to God -- Commitment" and ask that each of us continue to reflect on these words and keep the work, and the need for helpers to do the work, of our congregation uppermost in our prayers in the coming weeks.
May the peace of this season be with each and every one of us! Merry Christmas!
Marcia
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St. Paul International
Lutheran Church
Tokyo Lutheran Center Building
1-2-32 Fujimi, Chiyoda-ku,
Tokyo, JAPAN 102-0071
Phone : 03-3261-3740
E-mail : 
Homepage :
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Sunday Worship
9:30 am Holy Communion
10:40 am Fellowship Time
11:10 am Sunday School and Adult Forum
Wednesday Bible Study
7:00pm Pastor H's office
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Christmas Kids Day Fun
Fifteen children, ages 3 to 9, along with twenty parents and adults enjoyed the morning of December 15 in activities, crafts, songs, stories, and prayer. Pastor Saito of the Center Congregation and Pastor Phil acted out the short drama, "Santa Meets Jesus," each dressed for the respective part - Pastor Saito as Jesus and Pastor Phil as Santa. Children received gifts of school supplies and some sweets. They each made a Christmas bell to take home. Parents seemed to enjoy the morning, joining in the songs and trust games as much as the children. Thanks be to the VYM'ers and all who planned and organized the morning. The next Kids' Day will be in the Spring of 2008. See you then!
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Welcome Amanda and Jarrad
On Sunday, December 16th, during our Pledge Sunday worship service,   we welcomed Amanda L. and Jarrad L. into membership here at St. Pauls. With joy in our hearts, we give thanks for these special friends and pray the Lord's many blessings be upon you both!
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  Then, while the children had a special time of reading the Christmas story and playing a game of"Find Baby Jesus," the adults sang Christmas carols... in several different languages. A story about Three Christmas Trees and a surprise visit from you-know-who brought the party to an exciting close. Special thanks to Nancy T. and Martha H. for coordinating this very warm and fun activity. And as always, thanks to all who brought treats to share and all who helped with set-up and clean-up. It is a merry Christmas!
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Veena Sthothram
Luke and Rajkumari B. and their family discovered a few years ago that many Christian hymns  had not been recorded in the Telugu language of India. They were afraid that these hymns would be forgotten if someone didn't record them. They asked around and were encouraged to undertake such a project. So they have spent several years researching the hymns and in locating a professional musician to record the hymns on the Indian stringed instrument called "veena." They found a cooperative musician and began to record the hymns. The result is a set of four CDs, or one compact disk, with fifty hymns.
On Sunday, December 16, at St. Paul's they made the first public announcement on the availability of these hymns. Because of time zones, this first announcement was being made in Tokyo, but at the same time during the day announcements were also being made in New York, Sidney, New Delhi and other major cities.
The hope is that the CDs will lead to a revival of the singing of these hymns in Telugu. This was a labor of love as they are not looking to make any profit from the venture, but hope to just recover their costs while they contribute to the spread of the gospel in the churches of India. Additional information is on www.kjvineyard.org page 3 of 4
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ST. PAUL INTERNATIONAL LUTHERAN CHURCH
STEWARDSHIP: GIVING TO GOD - "Commitment"
December 2, 2007
Commitment is giving. Commitment to the church, through St. Paul's International Lutheran Church , Tokyo , is commitment to Christ. Of course congregations are earthly institutions that are imperfect; yet they are to reflect the love of Christ as his living body. Our giving then also means working for and through the church for ministry: worship, service, witness, learning, fellowship, and stewardship.
St. Paul's needs our involvement and participation as well as our financial contributions. This follows from our commitment through baptism "to live among God's faithful people, to hear his Word and share in his supper, to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, to serve all people, following the example of our Lord Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth" (LBW, p. 201).
St. Paul's has an annual "Voters' Assembly" that meets each January and will next meet January 27, 2008. At this congregational meeting members will conduct the formal business of the congregation. These items include:
- formally acting on the 2008 ministry priorities (financial budget);
- formally electing members of the Church Council;
- examining a long range plan for St. Paul's;
- other items as submitted.
The Church Council represents the Congregation and meets at least once a month during the year. From the Church Council various ministry teams (committees) are formed to plan for the congregation, lead and involve members and friends in the ministry such as worship, Sunday School, adult learning, evangelism, fellowship, service projects, etc.
If you would like to nominate someone, or yourself, to serve on the Church Council, please first obtain that person's permission. Then submit the person's name and a short bio to the church office by January 6, 2008. The nominations will be publicized in the January 13 and 20 Sunday bulletins which formally announce the Voters' Assembly.
Issues facing the Church Council for 2008 include such as, but are not limited to:
- developing the Sunday School program: training teachers, inviting and involving more children and parents; serving the community;
- the question of St. Paul as a juridical religious body (legal religious entity status), a several year process;
- reaching out to witness to the English speaking population in Tokyo ;
- consideration of calling a full-time pastor;
- developing ministry team (committee) leadership.
The Constitution of St. Paul's states in its bylaws: "Article II. Voters' Assembly. The regular voters' assembly shall be convened by the Church Council during the month of January. At this time the financial budget for the calendar year shall be adopted... At the regular voters' assembly, members shall be elected to the Church Council and the Board of Elders."
Regarding the Church Council, the bylaws indicate that the term for elected council member is two years, beginning in February of the year elected. The major responsibilities of council members are as follows:
- responsibility for church property and its management;
- presenting an annual budget to the congregation and supervising the expenditures of the budget;
- administering and supervising any salaried lay-workers of the congregation;
- see to Christian learning for children, youth and adults;
- encourage participation of members in ministry and inculcate the practice of stewardship;
- arrange for pastoral supply.
Let us commit to pray for the ministry of St. Paul's as an International Lutheran Church in Tokyo--its future, its pastoral and lay leaders, its witness and service. In Jesus' name. Amen.
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* * Mission Statement * *
St. Paul International Lutheran Church brings together people of diverse backgrounds who are deepening and sharing their Christian faith through English language worship, fellowship, education, and community outreach.page 4 of 4
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The time is Christmas Eve, 2010; the place is Shinjuku eki mae; the situation: Santa has just landed his sleigh of toys; Jesus has given food to some homeless persons and is walking toward the station; Santa and Jesus meet on the sidewalk in front of the station at midnight.
