History
The Glendale Mikuni Christian Church’s ground breaking in 1937 at 317 W. Palmer Ave
The roots of our church go back to 1921, when Dr. Julius Soper, a pioneering Methodist missionary in Japan, started the Glendale Japanese Sunday School for Nisei children, the offspring of Japanese immigrants.
Later on April 3, 1938, this Sunday School became a full-fledged independent church, which was dedicated as Glendale Mikuni (“Kingdom of God”) Christian Church in its new building at 317 W. Palmer Ave. in Glendale.
During the forced removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast in World War II, the building was used for storage of church members’ belongings. Many of the Glendale residents were sent to Manzanar Relocation Center. When parishioners and other Japanese Americans returned to the area after being released from camp in 1945, some lived at the church, using it as a temporary hostel while they looked for work and housing.
As its former members scattered throughout California and other states, the church struggled immediately after World War II. Approaching the Pacific Coast Japanese Free Methodist Conference for assistance, the Glendale Japanese Free Methodist Church officially joined the conference in 1955.
The church subsequently moved to a new building on Lake Street in 1984.
In 1996 the Lake Street sanctuary was filled to capacity and the facility was lacking in adequate Sunday school space. Sunday services were moved to the Crescenta-Canada YMCA in La Cañada.
In 1998, desiring to better reflect our mission and vision, the church was renamed New Life Christian Church.