Our purpose statement sums up what The Christian & Missionary Alliance has been doing in Japan since we began ministry here in 1891. The first church was started in Miyoshi, Hiroshima Ken in 1895, and in 1899 the Alliance began work in the city of Hiroshima. In 1922 an Alliance Bible School (now called the Japan Alliance School of Theology) was opened in Hiroshima. In 1931 the Japan Alliance Church (JAC), consisting of 14 organized churches and 13 smaller groups, was formed with Japanese leadership. Alliance missionaries focused on Hiroshima and Ehime until the 1980s. Today 23 of the 39 Japan Alliance Churches are in those two prefectures (for more about the JAC see their website).
In 1982 the Japan Alliance Mission started to focus its church planting efforts on the greater Tokyo area and has started 15 churches over the past 35 years, all but one located in the greater Tokyo area. There are another 18 ethnic churches (Filipino, Latino, and Chinese) with Alliance workers from the Philippines, Peru, Argentina, Brazil and China.
Since 2011 the Alliance Mission has been focusing on Tokyo and Tohoku. Four couples have served in Miyagi. The Alliance purchased a house hit by the tsunami in Ishinomaki and started New Life Center (for more information see their website).
Our strategy for planting churches is built on five key objectives: evangelism, discipleship, leadership development, church multiplication, and staff development. Our core values include prayer, creative ministry, teams, partnerships, and missional churches.
For more information about the US Alliance see www.cmalliance.org.
For more pictures and news about Alliance ministry in Japan see our facebook page: The-Alliance-in-Japan
The Alliance in Japan—Historical Highlights
1891 first Alliance missionaries sent to Japan
1893 AB Simpson 3 week visit to Japan
1931 Japan Alliance organized (14 churches and 13 developing churches; 20 workers including 6 ordained men)
1936 Mission withdraws from Japan (Mabel Francis and Anne Dievendorf remain in Japan)
1951 Japan Alliance Church reorganized
1952 Mission resumes work in Japan (after 16 years)
1982 Kanto Church Planting—over 600 baptized in 35 years
2011 Tohoku work started after the 3.11 disaster
2018 Alliance Church Network formed