October 18, 2022
Happy Anniversary Centenary UMC. What a memorable anniversary celebration we all had together on the weekend of October 15th and 16th. I am thankful to God our creator, Jesus our redeemer, and the Holy Ghost our encourager. Even though the theme of our anniversary year was, “Honor the Past, Engage the Present, and Impact the Future,” if I could add a new line to the theme, it would be, “We did it!” It was wonderful to see it all work out. It was a joy for me to sit and worship alongside faithful clergy and bishops, Bishop Grant Hagiya and Bishop Roy Sano. When I first joined the United Methodist Church, Bishop Sano was the Bishop of the Cal Pac Annual Conference. When I got ordained, I was blessed to have Bishop Hagiya place his hands on my shoulder to remind me of the heavy yet rewarding journey of ministry. Thank you to the 125th Anniversary Committee for putting together a celebration that lasted a whole year. All the hard work truly paid off. So many who participated in our weekend festivities, whether they were church members or not, shared how impressed they were that our small church planned such a grand celebration. Thank you to the Centenary UMC family. We might be known as a commuter church, but we came together as a faith community during this celebration. Praise Jesus!
A special thank you to Vicky Leon. Her leadership and never-ending energy are dizzying. Thank you, Vicky, for bringing people together to make this anniversary happen. Even if the committee got tired at times, you kept on going. You have the gift of unlimited energy, continuing to see the completion of what began a while ago. Thank you for serving as the chair of the committee and being our church's energizer bunny.
A big thank you to Michele Nagata. Thank you for adding Ted and Richard to your team for organizing the anniversary luncheon. It ran so smoothly. Thank you for so many hours of planning, creating, and making sure all of your ducks were in a row. So many have said that we should do this more often. Your creative gifts are such a blessing to us all.
Another special thank you to Judy Asazawa and Jane Oyama for helping me plan the Anniversary worship service. 2 Bishops, 2 District Superintendents, 6 Ordained Clergy who served our church at one point in their pastoral journey, God is good. Normally a 2-hour worship service would feel like eternity, but this service felt like we were at a fun and meaningful family gathering worshipping the Lord together. What a blessing! Thank you for helping to put together a memorable worship service.
There are so many other individuals to thank, but we all know that this was a whole church effort. We are blessed to have one another. This anniversary may be the culmination to these 125 years of mission and ministries, but like any culmination, it also means God will launch us into the new journey. We'll keep our eyes open to be aware of what God has in store for our church, but let's rest our minds, bodies, and hearts to get recharged for the next chapter. I am so thankful to be the Pastor at Centenary.
Rev. Ki Choi
Senior Minister
Centenary UMC