The Japan Mennonite Brethren Conference, or 日本メノナイトブレザレン教団 ''Nihon Menonaito Burezaren Kyoudan'', is an organization serving the ''Mennonite Brethren'' churches of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. ''Mennonite Brethren'' in Japan began as a mission work of the Board of Foreign Missions of the ''General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches'' (now the

US Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches The US Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (USMB) is an association of Mennonite Brethren Churches in the United States. Background On January 6, 1860, a small group of Mennonites in Ukraine, influenced by Moravian Brethren and Lutheran Pietis ...

and the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches). Plans for mission work in Japan were initiated in 1948, and the first missionary arrived in August 1950. The ''Mennonite Brethren'' mission work centered on the

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

and

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

area. Since then over 30 Mennonite Brethren missionaries have served in Japan. The first church service took place in May 1951, and the first baptism was in August of that same year. The work grew and the ''Nihon Menonaito Burezaren Kyoudan'' was founded in 1964. In April 2015 the Japan Mennonite Brethren Conference celebrated the 65th anniversary of its origins. In 2018 the Conference reported 1776 members in 29 congregations. Services provided by the ''Japan Mennonite Brethren Conference'' include theological direction through its Board of Faith and Life, Church Education Ministries, an Evangelism Committee, Overseas Missions Committee, and Publications Committee. The Nosegawa Bible Camp is located in the north part of Osaka, Japan, near the Inagawa River. The ''Japan Mennonite Brethren Conference'' operates the ''Evangelical Biblical Seminary'' (founded as the ''Osaka Biblical Seminary'' in 1965 by the ''Mennonite Brethren'' and two

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

groups) at

Ikeda, Osaka is a Cities of Japan, city in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. As of February 2017, the city had an estimated population of 103,028 and a population density of 4,700 persons per km2. The total area is 22.09 km2. History In the Edo period, Ikeda h ...

. ''Yoki Otozure'' is the conference periodical.

External links

Japan Mennonite Brethren Conference
- in English

- in Japanese

in ''Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online'' Mennonite denominations