History

In 1979, missionary Eric Froyland was sent to Japan by the Norwegian Mission Alliance, a Norwegian mission organization. Since then, he has worked hard on pastoral and missionary work at churches, practicing diakonia (putting the teachings of the Bible into practice) in Japan, and making an effort to spread its activities and spirit to churches of various denominations. In 1990, he established the Diakonia Center in Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture with Japanese collaborators, and on September 15, 2003, with the help of the circle of people in Japan that he had cultivated through nearly a quarter of a century of missionary work, donations from those people, as well as donations from people overseas, including Norway, he moved the Diakonia Center to Hara Mura in Suwa County and built the Yatsugatake Central Church. After that, as the Diakonia movement spread to various places, the organization called the Center was dissolved in 2008, and its spirit was passed on to the Yatsugatake Central Church. The work of the Norwegian Mission Alliance in Japan was taken over by the Norwegian New Life Mission in 1998, and was renamed New Life Ministries in 2006. In April 2024, the organization was granted religious corporation status and became independent from New Life Ministries, becoming the Yatsugatake Chuo Kogen Christian Church, a religious corporation.

Doctrine

Our church's doctrine is the following confession of faith:

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. 
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, 
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, 
born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, 
was crucified, died and was buried; 
he descended to the dead. 
On the third day he rose again; 
he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, 
and he will come to judge the living and the dead. 
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, 
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, 
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
Amen.

 
Basic Principles

1. Yatsugatake Central Church is a Protestant church based on the doctrine of the Norwegian Lutheran Church.

2. We worship the Lord through Bible-based teachings, prayer, and praise, and seek spiritual growth as Christians. This church is a place where believers from various denominations and church backgrounds gather, respect each other's different interpretations of the Bible, and strive to be a church with the love of the Lord, “ A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.” (Isaiah 42:3)

 3. We aim to grow as a community that can evangelize by making full use of the gifts we have received from God, fulfilling our Christian social responsibility based on God's love, and practicing diakonia, "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." (Luke 6:31), which is based on the love of Christ and actively responding to the needs of our neighbors.

 4. We aim to be a church that is open to members of the local community as part of our diakonia activities, as well as to those who come seeking a break from the busyness of their daily work or studies to relieve stress and find rest for body, mind and soul. We aim to be a church that is welcoming to everyone, one that "Let your moderation be known unto all men." (cf. Philippians 4:5).

We hope that as many people as possible will be saved by spending time peacefully with God in the beautiful forest nature given to us by God.