Dr. Raymond Jennings served as a chaplain and missionary teacher here at Kanto Gakuin from 1948 to 1960. He and his wife, Irene, came to Japan with two children, and another was born here--she's standing on the left in this photo.
A memorial service was held in Dr. Jennings' honor at Kanto Gakuin Church on April 6, 2008. We had the opportunity to remember a wonderful family who contributed much to KGU and to the wider Christian church in Japan.
While Dr. Jennings was in Japan, he worked both at the University and at the fledgling Baptist seminary--at that time located right here at Kanto Gakuin. Though he was surely no stranger to debate, he seemed to have been loved by a great number of folks here, as his memorial service was atttended by well over 100. He was a broad-minded Baptist, and left a legacy of building bridges.
For more information on Dr. Jennings' life and work, see:
I was very interested to talk with two of his children who were able to attend the ceremony (along with their mother, Irene). They were raised right here on Kanto Gakuin's Mutsuura campus, and it appears that things were different back then! Yanagicho--a housing development near us--was a swamp; the large, busy road in front of the campus was unpaved; and Americans were getting 350 yen to the US dollar (over 3 times the current rate!). Ah, the good old days!
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