General Conference

• Organized Free Methodist Churches: 26
• FMC Membership: 2,408
• Ordained Ministers: 35
• Bishop: Hiromichi Oshima

Origins

Paul Kakihara, a young man from Japan who attended Greenville College in Illinois, pioneered Free Methodist missions in Japan in 1895. He first evangelized on the island of Awaji, in Osaska Bay. There he joined forces with Teikichi Kawabe who was also preaching on the island. Mr. Kawabe became the leader in laying the foundation for the Japanese Free Methodist Church. The first North American missionaries arrived in 1903.

The work spread from the island to the great commercial center of Osaka. Mr. Kawabe founded Osaka First Church, at one time Free Methodism's largest congregation. He began Bible classes that grew into Osaka Theological Seminary.

The church became a General Conference in 1961, then was reorganized in 1984 to include only those congregations firmly committed to the evangelical faith.

Present Ministries

The conference senses a new call to church planting in this country where only 1 to 2 percent are Christians. The conference has set a goal to double church membership in ten years. Plans include planting churches in large cities from which satellite units will be launched.

A pastoral training program at both graduate and undergraduate levels is available at Osaka Theological Seminary. On the same campus is Osaka Christian College, a junior college with a strong Christian witness.

Learn more about Japan