Close Relationship Continues (姊妹教區再續約)

#2017-0509

Our diocese, the Episcopal Diocese of Taiwan, has kept a close relationship with the Anglican Diocese of Osaka; the two have been each other's "sister dioceses" for many years. This afternoon a special ceremony was carried out at the Church of the Good Shepherd (in Shilin, Taipei City), in which our bishop the Rt. Rev. David J.H. Lai (賴榮信主教) and their bishop the Rt. Rev. Andrew Haruhisa Iso (磯 晴久 主教) signed a new and formal agreement to continue the very close relationship between the two dioceses. And the whole process of signing was witnessed by representatives from both sides, including the visiting group of 26 persons (led by Bishop Iso) from the Osaka area, Japan.

Since it is scheduled that this Japanese group will also visit St. James' Church in Taichung tomorrow morning (See #2017-0510), Rev. Lily Chang (rector of St. James') and I (as a lay representative) especially came up from Taichung and joined in this very important ceremony. I was glad to have such a good opportunity to see my old friends here ... and to make friends with quite a few coming from Japan. Thanks to the Lord!

Rev. Herbert Barker, Rev. Philip Ho, and Ms. Nancy Liao

(left) Ms. Catherine Lee; (right) Rev. Keith C.C. Lee;
(middle) Ms. Masako Kawamura (川村 昌子)

以下二圖為 Ms. Catherine Lee 所拍攝、分享。

以上二圖為 Ms. Catherine Lee 所拍攝、分享。

Rev. Akira Iwaki (岩城 聰 牧師, retired dean of the
cathedral in Osaka) and Rt. Rev. David Lai
(bishop of the Diocese of Taiwan)

Ms. Shujing Xue read the Book of Acts in Japanese

The Gospel was read by Rev. Ching-I Tsai (or Jingyi Cai)
and Rev. Kiyomi Semmatsu (千松 清美 牧師)

While Bishop Haruhisa Iso (磯 晴久 主教) is preaching,
Mr. Nobuhiro Kasai (葛西 信宏) acts as interpreter.

以下三圖為 Ms. Catherine Lee 所拍攝、分享。

Ms. Fumiko Hayakawa (早川 文子), sitting on my
right-hand side, has become my Facebook friend.
On my left-hand side is Ms. Wenyi Zhao/Chao.

(1st from the left) Mr. Hiroshi Koide (小出 裕司);
(left and front) Mr. Minoru Kano (加納 實)

以上三圖為 Ms. Catherine Lee 所拍攝、分享。