Japanese Church of Christ photograph collection, 1910s-2017

The Japanese Church of Christ of Salt Lake City, Utah was founded in October of 1918 through the federated efforts of the Japanese Presbyterian Church and Congregation Churches of the Pacific Coast. Reverend Hidenobu Toyotome was sent to pastor the Salt Lake church as its first minister. Temporary officers were quickly elected and the work of outreach and evangelism was started in the Japanese community. To assist the minister in the work of evangelism, the Ladies Society for women and the Christian Endeavor Society for young people was organized.

In April 1921, Reverend Kenjo Tajima replaced the ailing Reverend Toyotome as the minister of the Japanese Church of Christ. Through Reverend Tajima's strong leadership and extensive traveling, membership and attendance increased. Reverend Tajima and far-sighted members continued in the efforts of Reverend Toyotome to build a new church, parsonage and dormitory. Construction of the new church was completed ahead of schedule in the latter part of 1924 in spite of many frustrated efforts and lack of funding. Reverend Tajima was soon after transferred to Southern California. Six more Issei ministers served the church until 1966 when they were completely replaced by bilingual and English-speaking Ministers who better fit the needs of the changing congregation.

In response to a growing need for an English-speaking minister, Reverend Howard Toriumi and Arnold Nakajima were called to provide pastoral leadership to the younger Japanese (Nisei) of the Intermountain area during the early 1940s. The growing presence of Nisei with their western values necessitated the formation of two separate bodies within the church, one for Iseis and one for Niseis. The two bodies functioned independently in terms of programming and pastoral leadership though both organizations shared the same physical facilities. The two churches remained separate for nearly twenty years, by which time it became too difficult to support two ministers and the Issei and Nisei churches were reunited in 1967.

Reverend George Hirose ministered the reunited church during the baby boomer years. Sunday school reached its zenith with over 180 children and youth. During the 1950s and 1960s a very effective Young Adult fellowship program was initiated. In 1962, to serve the Sansei (third generation), the JCC built a new Christian education building with a fellowship hall and multiple classrooms. In addition to youth outreach, the church began celebrating Japanese culture with the establishment of the Oriental Festival, later called Nihon Matsuri, in 1952.

Just as the 1960s was a turbulent time around the nation, it had resounding effects on the church. Issei leadership had been passed on to the younger Nisei and the Sansei generation did not remain active past their youthful years. Communication problems between generations became very evident and attendance decreased. Many Japanese business owners were forced to close down due to the building of the Salt Palace. This construction changed the downtown area completely, essentially eliminating the First South area known as Japanese Town or Japantown.

Reverend Kato led the church during the early 1970s until he left to attend the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Utah in 1975. In 1979 Kato was killed in a tragic auto pedestrian accident.

Pastor Arata took charge of the congregation in 1976 and remained in this position until 1985. The main focus during Arata's ministry was outreach to the Sansei and young families for membership and leadership. When Reverend Ikeda was appointed to lead the congregation in 1987, he continued Pastor Arata's focus of outreach to the Sansei. Reverend Ikeda also started new mission projects.

This history was adapted from the 75th Anniversary Book of the Japanese Church of Christ. The original history was complied by Reverend Paul Kato, Reverend S. Kent Ikeda, Dorcas Nakao, and Shig Matsukawa.