<Begin Segment 2>

BB: And the nature of the group that you came to at that time?

CE: The Sunday morning service, the larger number of people were Issei. And they, the man who had retired in July 1st from here was an Issei minister. And there were a core of faithful strong Nisei families which at that time were young enough to have children. So we had some children, and they particularly wanted us to expand or me to help them expand their appeal and get more intergenerational rather than be at this being a, quote, an Issei church. I found it fascinating that it was thought of as an Issei church. Of course, it had begun that way, and it just kept, keeping that image somehow though younger people got involved, they were not the larger number. And there was a feeling not by all Nisei but especially by Nisei men, there was a sort of a cultural thing, and there's no judgment on that. I think it's a good thing that their cultural respect for elders and respect for their parents made them feel like, "This was my parents, this was my parent's church; therefore, I will support it," but there wasn't ownership. So I determined early on that one of the things that I wanted to work on was to try to give some ownership to Nisei and especially Nisei men. In fact, when it came time for me to think, to say we need to think about repairing this building because it was in pretty sad shape, the roof leaked, and I had to set pans around and so forth when it rained, and the plaster was falling off the wall, and the paint was coming off of the outside. And I said we need to think about doing some maintenance and repairs here. And one Nisei man said we shouldn't put a penny into that building, and I said, "Why?" And he said, "Because in ten years, there will be no church there." And I said, "Why?" and he said, "Because all the Issei will be gone." So it was an interesting thing to get in touch with, to respect out of a cultural setting, but a challenge for me was to give ownership. Some years later, I got a nice compliment at a gathering of the Japanese clergy, and I think it was in Los Angeles in one of the Japanese churches where we met yearly, and they said to me, "You have more Nisei men in your church than any of us have." Well, I took that as a compliment.

BB: What other things did you find as impressions of the church and the history of the church here in Portland?

CE: Well, the history was a fascinating history. I could, I can read this better than I can say it, in the history of the church booklet. In the midst of western growth and development in the United States, the first immigrants from Japan moved into the vicinity of Portland, Oregon, in the 1880s. By 1887, about thirty Japanese lived in the area. The number grew to at least a hundred by 1892. In the presence of these Japanese, mostly men, in Portland, was recognized by the Japanese Methodist Episcopal Church in San Francisco now known as the Pine Church, and that church commissioned a missionary journey to study the need for ministry in the Northwest. In October of 1892, the Reverend Takichi Kawabe, an ordained deacon at the San Francisco church, was appointed a circuit preacher and journeyed for three months throughout the Northwest meeting with Japanese persons in different communities. He visited Portland three times and became convinced that a mission in Portland was necessary and would serve as a center for evangelism in the Greater Northwest region. Upon returning to San Francisco church, his plans were accepted, and in February of 1893, he returned to Portland and rented a small house at 54 Southwest First Avenue between Burnside and Ankeny and opened the Japanese Methodist Mission. From that small beginning came the Japanese Methodist Episcopal Church of Portland known fondly as the M.E. Church, and the general population talked about the Methodist Episcopal Church as the Emi Church because it was shorter. But the Japanese people called it Mikyoukai, which I thought was wonderful and so affectionate, Mikyoukai, and that church is presently known as Epworth United Methodist Church.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2003 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.