Methodists celebrate 10th anniversary

Members of the Immanuel Methodist Church of Saipan will mark the 10th year anniversary of its English congregation this Sunday. In a joint lunch celebration, the members of the Korean, Filipino, Chinese and English worship groups will gather at the main Church in Koblerville.

The day begins with the holding of the different language worship services, starting with the Filipino at the main sanctuary at 8am, the English at 9am in the chapel, the Chinese in the Chapel, and Korean in the main sanctuary at 10:30am.

Perched on the ridge that separates San Antonio and Koblerville along As Perdido Road, the Immanuel Methodist Church was started by the Rev. Myung Taek Lee of Korea in 1990. In 1992, the Rev. Barbara Grace Ripple of Ohio then newly arrived bride of erstwhile Commonwealth Development Authority executive officer Jim Ripple, offered to organize and lead an English worship congregation.

The English worship group gathered Methodists from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga who had come to work in the Commonwealth, along with English speaking Filipinos, Chinese, Koreans and Caucasian residents of Canada, Hawaii and the mainland U.S. who were on island as contract workers or short-term professional practitioners. Occasionally, visiting island guests from Europe and Australia would find their way to the worship service.

The Methodist Church structure is a connectional system. The Korean group relates to the Methodist Church of Korea, and the English group relates to a U.S. mainland conference. In 1995, the English group was formally chartered into the California-Pacific annual conference. In 1996, the Filipino and Chinese worship groups evolved, relating to the Philippines United Methodist Church and the Methodist Church of China, respectively.

Combining vital piety with social awareness, the Methodist Church has a history of being involved in contemporary social issues. From the plight of contract workers brought into the Commonwealth by unscrupulous recruiters such as the Bangladeshi and Filipino contingents a few years back, to the protection and sanctuary of victims of domestic violence, particularly those in common-law relationships, the involvement of the Methodist Church is considerable given the relatively small size of its membership and material means.

Until recently, the Methodists ran the Oleai House of the Marianas Resource Center in San Jose. Led by the English congregation and its Pastor, the Rev. Jaime R, Vergara, the center supported the formation of a parents organization that advocated for the special education needs of children with autism.

The organization has since evolved into a partnership with the Special Education division of the Public School System to organize parents of special education children, as well as help create training materials for parents and teachers in special education intervention methodologies.