2024 SPRC Report
Staff Parish Relations Committee (SPRC) Report – 2024
According to paragraph 258.2 in the 2016 version of The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church, each local church is to have a pastor-parish relations committee. This committee is to support and strengthen the pastor and staff and build relationships between the staff and congregation and the district superintendent.
SPRC Members: Rev. John Oda, Kristin To (Chair), Kathy Haneta, Lori Longmire, Carl Miya, Shelley Nakashima (Lay Leader), Kellie Nunokawa (Lay Leader), Jim Tengan, Mimune Tsukamoto (Nichigo representative)
Summary of 2024
There have been several staffing changes this year. We are grateful to Peter Hikido for his years of service as Finance Secretary and his dedication to Wesley UMC. Peter provided invaluable support to many groups in our church with his finance expertise. In May, Ivan Vielma joined our staff as Praise Band Lead Singer. Ivan’s vocal talent enhances our worship experience, and we look forward to him sharing more of his musical gifts with us. We are also thankful for Kasper Kimura who served as our MYF Director for the past two years. He played an important role in the spiritual growth of our youth, and we wish him well as he relocates. Instead of replacing the MYF Director position, Lauren Takaichi who was our CAF Director has taken on this added responsibility and is leading both CAF and MYF in a new role as Youth Director. Lauren continues to demonstrate her commitment to ministering to our youth, and we are so fortunate to have her on staff at Wesley.
It was with great pleasure that we celebrated Rev. John’s reappointment as our Senior Pastor in July. Under Rev. John’s leadership, Wesley continues to thrive and remain a very active church. We have started conversations about rebranding and continue on a mission to identify ways to attract new people to Wesley. Throughout the year, Rev. John has preached on timely topics and recently gave sermons on loneliness and anxiety. And this past spring, he accompanied a church group to Japan.
Along with Rev. John’s reappointment, we also celebrated Mark Teagle’s 10th anniversary at Wesley. Mark initially started in a part-time role as Choir Director and has been working full-time since July 2018 as Director of Spiritual Formation, Community Engagement and Music. Mark brings his many gifts to our church through music, sermons, small groups, neighborhood food distribution, and his involvement with PACT. In addition to these responsibilities, he continues his Deacon ordination process.
In July we also received great news that the Asian American Language Ministry (AALM) grant for $10,000 was approved. These funds will be used to help support programming for our Nichigo ministry.
This past year we made the decision to partner with an outsourced accounting firm Parable that specializes in church accounting. The transition to Parable has been a huge undertaking, and we are indebted to Kelli Martines who has been the main person responsible for the migration of our finances. In addition to Kelli, we are grateful to Finance Chair Lori Tabuchi and Kathy Haneta who have been instrumental in this process. Kelli also oversees the children and youth ministries, manages the administrative staff and is our liaison to community groups in Japantown. Kelli gives generously of her time to Wesley, the congregation, and community.
Looking Ahead to 2025
Rev. John is in his third year as Senior Pastor at Wesley UMC, and we look forward to all we can accomplish together in the coming year with our congregation and community. We will continue to find ways to provide for our Nichigo ministry since the departure of our Nichigo Pastor in 2022.
Reflecting back on this year, we are deeply appreciative of our amazing staff at Wesley. Their dedication and commitment help ensure everything runs smoothly. They continue to support the church in so many ways, and on behalf of Wesley we thank each and every staff member for all of the blessings they bring to our church.
Rev. John Oda – Senior Pastor
Mark Teagle – Director of Spiritual Formation, Community Engagement and Music
Kelli Martines – Director of Administration
Hikaru Bakoshi – Media and Technology Coordinator
Lauren Takaichi – Youth Director
Hatty Lin – Children’s Ministry Director
Terri Thornton – Administrative Assistant
Alan Ngai – Administrative Assistant
Kelvin Kamachi – Facilities Manager
Shane Cantanho – Accompanist
Akiko Buchanan – Accompanist
Ivan Vielma – Praise Band Lead Singer
Respectfully submitted,
Kristin To, SPRC Chair
SPRC Members: Rev. John Oda, Kristin To (Chair), Kathy Haneta, Lori Longmire, Carl Miya, Shelley Nakashima (Lay Leader), Kellie Nunokawa (Lay Leader), Jim Tengan, Mimune Tsukamoto (Nichigo representative)
Summary of 2024
There have been several staffing changes this year. We are grateful to Peter Hikido for his years of service as Finance Secretary and his dedication to Wesley UMC. Peter provided invaluable support to many groups in our church with his finance expertise. In May, Ivan Vielma joined our staff as Praise Band Lead Singer. Ivan’s vocal talent enhances our worship experience, and we look forward to him sharing more of his musical gifts with us. We are also thankful for Kasper Kimura who served as our MYF Director for the past two years. He played an important role in the spiritual growth of our youth, and we wish him well as he relocates. Instead of replacing the MYF Director position, Lauren Takaichi who was our CAF Director has taken on this added responsibility and is leading both CAF and MYF in a new role as Youth Director. Lauren continues to demonstrate her commitment to ministering to our youth, and we are so fortunate to have her on staff at Wesley.
It was with great pleasure that we celebrated Rev. John’s reappointment as our Senior Pastor in July. Under Rev. John’s leadership, Wesley continues to thrive and remain a very active church. We have started conversations about rebranding and continue on a mission to identify ways to attract new people to Wesley. Throughout the year, Rev. John has preached on timely topics and recently gave sermons on loneliness and anxiety. And this past spring, he accompanied a church group to Japan.
Along with Rev. John’s reappointment, we also celebrated Mark Teagle’s 10th anniversary at Wesley. Mark initially started in a part-time role as Choir Director and has been working full-time since July 2018 as Director of Spiritual Formation, Community Engagement and Music. Mark brings his many gifts to our church through music, sermons, small groups, neighborhood food distribution, and his involvement with PACT. In addition to these responsibilities, he continues his Deacon ordination process.
In July we also received great news that the Asian American Language Ministry (AALM) grant for $10,000 was approved. These funds will be used to help support programming for our Nichigo ministry.
This past year we made the decision to partner with an outsourced accounting firm Parable that specializes in church accounting. The transition to Parable has been a huge undertaking, and we are indebted to Kelli Martines who has been the main person responsible for the migration of our finances. In addition to Kelli, we are grateful to Finance Chair Lori Tabuchi and Kathy Haneta who have been instrumental in this process. Kelli also oversees the children and youth ministries, manages the administrative staff and is our liaison to community groups in Japantown. Kelli gives generously of her time to Wesley, the congregation, and community.
Looking Ahead to 2025
Rev. John is in his third year as Senior Pastor at Wesley UMC, and we look forward to all we can accomplish together in the coming year with our congregation and community. We will continue to find ways to provide for our Nichigo ministry since the departure of our Nichigo Pastor in 2022.
Reflecting back on this year, we are deeply appreciative of our amazing staff at Wesley. Their dedication and commitment help ensure everything runs smoothly. They continue to support the church in so many ways, and on behalf of Wesley we thank each and every staff member for all of the blessings they bring to our church.
Rev. John Oda – Senior Pastor
Mark Teagle – Director of Spiritual Formation, Community Engagement and Music
Kelli Martines – Director of Administration
Hikaru Bakoshi – Media and Technology Coordinator
Lauren Takaichi – Youth Director
Hatty Lin – Children’s Ministry Director
Terri Thornton – Administrative Assistant
Alan Ngai – Administrative Assistant
Kelvin Kamachi – Facilities Manager
Shane Cantanho – Accompanist
Akiko Buchanan – Accompanist
Ivan Vielma – Praise Band Lead Singer
Respectfully submitted,
Kristin To, SPRC Chair
Posted in Charge Conference 2024