Western Religions
Though the majority of Issei were Buddhist, a small percentage converted to Christianity prior to settlement in southern Alberta. Resettlement of Japanese Canadians to southern Alberta brought a small number of Japanese Christians to the region. After World War II was over, Japanese Christian churches and missions were organized to minister to Japanese Christians in the region and to convert other Japanese Canadians to Christianity. Many of these churches are still operating.
Members of the Anglican Church of the Ascension, Coaldale, 1953.
Photo courtesy of Marlene (Nago) McCaughey, Lethbridge, Alberta.
The Anglican Church of the Ascension
For most of its years in Coaldale, just east of Lethbridge, this church has been synonymous with the Reverend Gordon Goichi Nakayama. Though Anglican services were being conducted for the Japanese in the 1920s by visiting clergy, it was not until the arrival of Reverend Nakayama in 1945 that an attempt was made to establish a parish.
Members of the United Church, Lethbridge, ca. 1950s.
Galt Museum & Archives exhibit file.
The Southern Alberta Japanese United Church
Interdenominational Sunday worship services were held by newly relocated Japanese Christians. In the summer of 1942, the Home Mission Board appointed Reverend Jun Kabayama as the pastor for the Japanese Christians in southern Alberta.
In January 1950, the first annual congregational meeting was held in Lethbridge. The membership grew rapidly, growing to 171 in ten years. In the early 1960s, the church extended mission works to the Japanese in Calgary and Edmonton.
Members of the Nikkei Gospel Church, Lethbridge, 1953. Left side, right to left – Row 1: Dianne Nago. Row 2: Wally Strom, Reverend Charles Bayley. Row 3: woman with hat Row 4: Reverend Phillip Hatano, Yvonne Okita, Mr. and Mrs. Okita. Row 5: Mr. I. Iwabuchi, Mrs. Iwabuchi, Mr. Tonomura, unidentified, unidentified. Row 6: woman with white collar Row 7: Ray Reinheller, unidentified, Mary Nago, unidentified, Mrs. Ito. Back row looking down: Bill Hoshizaki. Right side, left to right – Row 1: Lynda Nago, Florence Kanashiro, Faye Nago. Row 2: Gladys Going, Nora Kadonaga. Row 3: Mrs. Tonomura. Row 4: Gordon Kogawa, Lillian Kogawa, George Nickel. Row 5: Arnold Dyck, unidentified, Mary Dyck, Edna Bayley. Row 6: Uriah Gingrich, Mrs. Sameshima. Back Row Reverend Nori Kanashiro, Mr. Ito.
Galt Museum & Archives exhibit file.
Nisei Gospel Church
Started in the fall of 1953 to respond to a need for centralized fellowship, studies, and worship among Nisei evangelical Christians. At its inception, the church began meeting weekly at the YMCA and then in the Moose Hall in north Lethbridge, primarily ministering to the Nisei. With a strong membership, the church bought the Bethel Baptist Church building on 5th Avenue North in 1963.
Attendance began to decline throughout the 1960s as members left the region for other work. The church adopted a “community church” philosophy and changed its name to Grace Gospel Church to gain wider community appeal. The church was in existence until 1971 when the building was sold.