About

教会について

Pastoral Team｜Vision and Values | What we believe | Movement

Pastoral Team

Ryuta and Patrizia Kimura

Ryuta is Japanese and Patrizia is Swiss.
Since they met each other and got married in Europe in 2002, They dreamed of coming to Japan to build God's Kingdom through the Local Church.
After finishing Bible College in England, Ryuta has been involved in Mission, Youth Ministry, and has been working as a pastor for almost 20 years.
Ryuta's passion has always been to raise up and equip Japanese people, especially Japanese men. He has trained and impacted the lives of many people so that they can live effectively for God.
Patrizia's passion has always been connecting people to the local church, through building strong communities. She loves to inspire those around her to live out their God-given destiny.
Because Ryuta and Patrizia are running their own business, they are also passionate about helping Christians to run successful businesses and use their business resources and connections for the Kingdom of God.
Together they have two super cute daughters.
They love traveling and exploring their favorite city Tokyo and Japan!

Lukas and Mami Kernen

Mami and Lukas met during their study in England and got married in 2007. Lukas then graduated from Bible College and for the following six years, they interned as a couple in the Pentecostal movement in Switzerland.
Lukas worked as a Youth Pastor and Mami served her Church through the worship & design ministry. In 2012, Lukas was officially ordained as a Pastor. Their vision and love for Japan continued to grow until they were finally sent out as missionaries to Japan in January 2014.
Together they have two wonderful boys. Besides actively building the local church, they love traveling and learning about different cultures.

Jono Lee and Seera Unno

Jono was born in the US and raised in Hong Kong, while Seera is half Japanese and half Singaporean raised in Japan. They met each other in Seattle in 2008 and were married in 2011. They moved to Japan in 2016 and together they have two children.

Jono is a full time US licensed Psychotherapist who has experience working in the field of counseling and psychotherapy for over 10 years. He is currently practicing in Japan while also pursuing a Master in Theological Studies online.

Seera runs a company in translation and writing, while having a strong interest in theology. Both of them have been involved in various levels of ministries in the local church, with a passion to see healthy, culturally relevant, gospel-centered churches established across the globe.

Outside of their routine and serving the church, they enjoy traveling, food and everything ACG (Anime, Comics, Games). They particularly enjoy connecting the Gospel narrative with entertainment and pop cultures.

Pastoral Team

Vision and Values

Gospel
The Gospel is life changing. Those who live by it receive a new identity: an identity not based on what they do or what they have done, but solely on what Jesus has done for them. This is the good news. Through this new identity, our desire to sin is replaced by new desires to please God in all that we do. The Gospel is not just a small part of Christianity, but it is the main event. Through Jesus Christ, we believe that the Gospel is the ultimate solution to our broken lives and the only solution for the forgiveness of sins. As a Gospel centered community our hearts desire is to continue sharing this good news with the people of Japan, so that they too may receive the lifesaving message of the Gospel.

Community
We believe the Christian faith is not something we are supposed to do alone. Even the triune God we serve, is representative of a community (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). Without a community, we cannot function effectively as a Church. We all have our part to play in the body of Christ. We all have spiritual gifts given by God for the edification of the Church, that we may be effective for the cause of Jesus Christ. Our community is a place where, through authentic and transparent relationships, we build each other up, sharpen one another, and share in each other’s joy and suffering. Doing life together demonstrates our love for one another, and through this love all will know that we are Jesus’ disciples.

City
We believe that people who have been changed by the Gospel no longer live to make a name for themselves, but rather to make the name of Jesus known. As we go about our daily lives at work, in our schools, and in our social networks, we want to be a missional community who are prepared and willing to share the Gospel to our city. Our heart is to also contribute to the needs of our city in a practical way. Therefore, we seek to stand up for social justice, and be a noticeable presence in our community; to reflect God’s love and His Gospel in ways they can see and understand.

What we Believe

The Bible was written under the Holy Spirit’s perfect inspiration of each writer, containing all that God desires to reveal to humanity concerning salvation. The Bible is the single and absolute standard for faith and practice.
The living and true God is one, who is eternally existent in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God created all things, visible and invisible, from nothing, which are subject to His absolute sovereignty.
Adam was created in the image of God and in right relation with God, but was tempted by Satan and sinned against God, thereby experiencing both spiritual and physical death. All human beings are therefore born with a sinful nature, being sinners in thought, word and deed.
The Lord Jesus Christ is true God and true man. He was begotten by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, died on the cross for the sins of the world, was buried, and rose on the third day. He ascended to heaven and sits at the right hand of God where he executes his ministry as High Priest for us.
Because of the substitutionary death of our Lord Jesus Christ, all who believe in Him are forgiven of their sins, justified by faith and redeemed from the penalty and dominion of sin. There is no other way to salvation.
The Holy Spirit is a person whose ministry is to convict and regenerate sinful people, making them children of God, conforming them to the image of Christ; and empowering them for effective world evangelization. The Holy Spirit is sovereign, having perfect liberty to do as He pleases. He gives gifts of graces as He wills for the edification of the church.
The church universal is the body of Christ, and all who are born again by the Holy Spirit become members thereof, with Christ being the head. The church on earth, in a manner befitting its head, should maintain purity of faith and life and preach the gospel to every creature.
We believe in water baptism by immersion. Baptism is a visible symbol of God’s saving work within a person. It is the outward sign of belonging to the people of God—those who have repented and put their faith in Jesus Christ.
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is coming again personally, bodily and visibly. He will raise bodily the just and the unjust–one to everlasting blessedness and the other to everlasting punishment, after which He will renew all things and deliver the kingdom to God the Father.

What we believe

Related Networks and Movements

Swiss Pentecostal Movement

Double O Cross is a Church cultivation that began with the support of the Swiss Pentecostal Movement and leadership with a vision of world missions. As a vision of the church, we will connect with Churches around the world that have the same ambition, not only in the area of Tokyo, but in cooperation to convey the Gospel to Japan. Among them, relations and cooperation with Switzerland are very strong, missionaries or teams from Switzerland or Europe come to Japan each year to serve.

Grace Church Planting Network

I believe that to meet the Gospel in the heart of Tokyo and to inform all people about Christ, a number of new Churches need to be created. Double O Cross is involved in the "Grace Church Planting Network" as a cooperative relationship for the continued creation of Churches and promotes the Church development movement. In addition, the Grace Church development network is formed by cooperation with Redeemer City to City, and through their Movement, it participates in the work of Church development not only in Japan but also around the world.