(English) About the Pastors

Pastor Paul and Spring Iwata(2/28/18 now with the Lord), husband and wife team, pioneered and oversee the church through their administration and preaching/teaching. Prior to their ministry at Sunrise Church, they served for on pastoral staff at Japanese churches in Portland and Southern California. Pastor Paul was born and raised in Oregon. While attending the University of Oregon, he accepted the Lord into his life.

Pastor Spring was a native of Japan where she found the Lord and came to the States for theological training and to eventually meet her husband in seminary. Both taught also teaching Biblical languages, Biblical studies, and pastoral ministry at Christ International Theological Seminary in Los Angeles.

Pastor James Iwata, also a hospice chaplain, now joins in this ministry with preaching and pastoral care.  In 2015, he completed his studies at Fuller Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree.

MISSION:

Sunrise Church focuses on building healthy, spirit-filled relationships that will lead people to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and to reproduce the character of Christ within them (Eph. 4:13). We welcome people of all backgrounds and places in life.

WHAT WE BELIEVE:

• We believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God: true, immutable, steadfast, and unchangeable (2 Timothy 3:16, 17).

• We believe that God is triune: Father, Son and Holy Spirit; the Three are coexistent, coeternal, and equal in divine perfection (1 John 5:7).

• We believe that the baptism in the Holy Spirit empowers believers to exalt Jesus, to live lives of holiness, and to be witnesses of God’s saving grace; we expect the Spirit’s incoming to be after the same manner as that in which He came upon believers in the days of the Early Church (Acts 1: 5, 8; 2:4).

• We believe that divine healing is the power of Jesus Christ to heal the sick in answer to the prayer of faith; He, who does not change, is still willing and able to heal the body, as well as the soul and spirit in answer to faith (Mark 16: 17, 18; James 5:14-16).   日本語