One of the hardest things for me about the "moving" military life is having to search AGAIN for a place to worship with my family. It's an exhausting and time-consuming process because you generally have to wait a week before you can try a different one. Whether temple, synagogue, mosque or church, finding a place to go that meets your needs can be tough. I've been here for 7 months and have been to 4 different services. I'll tell you about those, but mostly, I'm hoping you'll comment and tell us where you go and what it's like. Maybe we can help each other speed up the search!
So these are the places I've attended:
The Harbor — Fridays, 6pm. Style: Mildly contemporary. Format: Potluck, Coffee Shop time, Service. Kids: Room for the kids to play during the service and a class for 3-6 year-olds during the service.
OIC Seventh-day Adventist Church — Saturdays, 9:30am-12pm. Style: Traditional. Format: Children's classes & adult class before main service which begins at 11am. Kids: Class before and children's story during the service.
Calvary Chapel — Sundays, 8:30am & 10:30am. Style: Contemporary. Format: Services happen twice on Sundays with children's classes running concurrently with main adult service. Kids: Have their own service but are welcome with their parents in the main service (rows reserved in the back).
Project 196 — Sundays, 7pm. Style: Contemporary. Format: No classes, just main service. Kids: Welcome to sit with their families — no separate child care. UNFORTUNATELY, this service is going to be canceled after this Sunday night (Nov 25).
Please tell us where you go and fill us in — even if I've already mentioned it!
Okinawa Covenant Church
The only English speaking reformed church on Okinawa.
http://www.okinawacovenant.org/
We attend All Souls’ Episcopal:
http://www.allsoulsokinawa.org.
It is located 5 minutes from Camps Foster and Lester. Worship is a traditional Episcopalian service at 8:00 and 10:00 (family service) on Sundays, with Sunday School for all ages from 9:00-10:00. Children may attend a children’s church during the sermon portion of the 10:00 service. Nursery care is also available. For those who speak Japanese, there is a Japanese translation simulcast (on headphones) during the sermon. Other programs and special events exist as well: weekly coffee hour after the 10:00 service, monthly potlucks, fall festival, Christmas service project, women’s teas, mother’s day brunch, etc. There is also a day school program on MWF for children ages 2-5. If you’re looking for a liturgical worship service (that your pre-reading children can memorize/know what to expect), this is one of your only English-speaking options on island!
Services also exist on most of the military bases on island.
We are LDS, otherwise known as Mormon, and are very lucky that no matter where we go in the world everyone is on the same lesson and learning the same thing. We can call back home and talk to our parents/family about the lesson we had (of course with the time difference we had the lesson the day before) and we all understand what the other is talking about. It is always nice to know that when we move we will just have different people sitting around us and not have to worry about what they will be teaching, if it is different than the last place, or finding a new place to worship. There is a 1 hour sacrament that the family sits through together, then 2 hours of class time. The kids from 18 months up have there own class they go to and the adults have there own classes (1 hour together = Sunday School and 1 hour the men (priesthood) and women (Relief Society) seperate for the class. There are a couple different churches on the Island and you go to the one in your area (There is one by Futenma for Foster, Futenma, and Kinser area; 1 in Awase (Sord of by Toys R Us) that Awase area and Kadena area meet at; and 1 in Okinawa city (by Main City Mall) that Camp Shields on North meet at.). http://www.mormon.org can give you info. on the basic belief and http://www.lds.org is the official church website.
Great info, all! Keep it coming!
I like the simplicity of our church. We go to Calvary Chapel (a non-denominational Christian church). Pastor Rick Barnett, who makes me laugh, goes through the Bible a few verses at a time – week after week. I almost feel like he’s a reporter who manages to dig up the who, the what and the why of whatever particular piece of ancient text we’re looking at that week. And somehow the things he discovers make it make sense to me and my life. I walk away feeling like I’ve gained something. That makes me wanna come back. The contemporary music, casual dress, laid back atmosphere and in-depth teaching all seem to mesh together to create a meaningful experience that I like. For a closer look at Calvary’s beliefs check out http://www.calvaryokinawa.com/whatwebelieve.htm .
Hi there. We go to Keystone Church of the Nazarene located near the intersection of Hwys. 24 and 58. We really enjoy the contemporary music mixed in w/the somewhat traditional Methodist service. Pastor Robert Dunn is a joy to listen to – very down to earth and incorporates practical life aspects to her sermons. There is an 8:15am and 10:45am service on Sundays. A variety of Bible Study classes begin at 9:30 every Sunday. There is a nursery and children’s church for the 10:45am service 3 weeks out of the month. The last week is a family-oriented service where children are encouraged to participate. For more information, here’s their website: http://www.keystonenazarene.org/webpage/home/home.htm
Good luck!
Lan
Sorry, obvious typo in my previous comment: meant to type in “his sermons”!
Next time, I’ll use the “preview” function!
-Lan
We go to the Sunday evening Catholic service at Chapel 1 on Kadena. The current priest that I really like is on leave. Mass is at 5:00 and is pretty casual.
Here’s the site for all the services offered at Kadena:
http://kadenachapel.org/
I know from research that there are no synagogues here on Okinawa, but does anyone go to one of the base services? I know there has to be at least a few Jewish families on island!!
There are Jewish as well as Islamic services at the base chapels. I’m not sure of all island bases and my internet is acting up but here are a couple of helpful links w/ the service times.
Kadena:
http://www.kadenachapel.org/other_faith_groups.htm
Camp Lester:
http://www.oki.med.navy.mil/Chapel/Schedule.html
Hi, Jennifer! You know that the Nice Jewish Girl here had to pipe up. I’m not very religious, however the Rabbi on Camp Foster is pretty orthodox. I know there are Shabbat services each week, and he sends out an email to you (if you’re on the list) to tell you about the week’s Torah teachings. Rabbi (Lt.) Kevin Bemel can be reached at kevin.bemel @ usmc.mil. I’m sure he’d be happy to put you on his weekly email list and you can attend services as you like.
Also I know I’m bringing my hubby & daughter to a kids’ party & pot luck Hannukah dinner on Friday (12/7) – if you’re close to Foster maybe you’d be interested in joining us and meeting some of the local members of the tribe?
If you’d like to go, email Barb at barbfernandez @ hotmail.com by 12/3 so she knows you’re coming. The dinner is kosher-style dairy, so no meat dishes. Tell anyone else you know who might be interested.
Anybody know of any Christian churches on island who have a Saturday evening/night service?
Bambi we are also LDS and I would love to know a little more about the ward there. Will you email me (nordellsrule@gmail.com) off the site? Thanks!
I am 18 years old, and i am new to the island, is there a college age bible study or youth worship on Kadena AB?
Does anyone attend the Okinawa Covenant Church? Can you tell me what it is like? (We are very new to the reformed faith)
Heather, I don’t know about college age in particular, but Calvary Chapel offers a variety of Womens Bible Studies – they meet at different times during the week to accomodate morning or evening schedules. I’m sure you will find that other young women attend!
Our family just joined New Beginnings near Foster. Some info on the ministry: It is a non-denominational Christian church. Sunday morning service begins at 11. The children are broken up into different age groups so they can be ministered to at their age level. Women’s ministry meets the first Friday night of the month. Men’s ministry meets the third Friday night of the month.
I wouldn’t necessarily it’s worship. It’s more the pagan equivelent of bible study, in my opinion. Though we do do sabbats (holidays) and esbats (moon cycle stuff).
http://www.witchvox.com/vn/vn_detail/dt_gr.html?a=jpxx&id=34149 these guys, actually. And yes I help run it. lol
I’ve been attending the Harbor since arriving on island 15 months ago and I can honestly say that I have not found genuine community like it in all my past churches. It meets Fridays at 6 for dinner and coffee then a contemporary service at 730. Sunday nights it also meets for coffee at 6 and worship at 630. The congregation is mostly young families and military. Great atmosphere and awesome, Christ-centered worship and teaching. Located just outside of Kadena Gate 3.
http://www.okiharbor.com
The pastor at Central Baptist is reformed.
Calvary International Church of God in Christ.
Tue: Praise Team rehearsal @ 6:30pm
Wed: Bible Study @ 7pm
Sunday: Sunday School @ 9:30am
Worship Service @ 11:00pm
Kids have worship concurrent with adult services.
Yomitan international church is a great church to visit. It is a non-denominational, spirit-filled church. Here is the website: http://www.yicasia.org/sitemap-alphabetical.html