Grand Canyon Synod of the ELCA

View Original

Japan: An opportunity for new beginnings

The Japan Lutheran Church (JLC) has been an associate member church of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) since 1999. In 2021, JLC decided to ordain women as pastors.

Rev. Heeme Yang, one of its first two ordained women pastors, shares her journey from fashion design to studying theology, what it means to be church in an ageing society, and ecumenical opportunities in a Christian minority context. From her Korean Buddhist origins, Anglican college life, to becoming a Lutheran church Vice-President, it’s been 20 years since Rev. Heeme Yang “knocked on the seminary door.” Read more at lutheranworld.org.