About us
Our Mission...
To bind together followers of Jesus Christ for the purpose of sharing in the worship of God and in making His Will dominant in the lives of all people, individually and collectively, especially as that Will is set forth in the Bible and in the life teachings of Jesus Christ.
aboutus
In 1913, the Whittier Plymouth Congregational church embarked on a mission outreach effort to the growing Japanese immigrant community in Montebello. What began as a Sunday school project eventually grew, through the hardworking, dedication and sacrifice of the Issei members, to be the Montebello Plymouth Congregational Church.
Building on the foundation laid down by the Issei, MPCC continued to grow and mature as a church under the emerging able leadership of the second generation Japanese Americans, the Nisei. With their diligent commitment and support, MPCC strove to meet the Gospel call to minister to the spiritual needs of its members, while also seeking to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the community at large.
In 2013, we celebrated 100 years of faithful service to our loving God. We continue to rejoice in our diversity and are empowered to carry on this rich legacy of faith as a people of God called to a ministry of peace, justice and a loving community.
Our Logo...
The MPCC logo was adopted in June 1979. The red circle is a full moon laced with gentle clouds with an origami tsuru (crane) flying by serenely. It reminds us of our church's Asian roots and a common human yearning for peace and harmony.
The small circle is made up of four parts, with each enclosing an inward and outward arrow symbolizing the cross of Jesus in the midst of the challenges of our present world. The arrows remind us that, as Christians, we are called to minister outward to the world and gather inward with each other for renewal and fellowship.
Our logo tells us of the Good News: that God yearns to give us peace, joy, and wholeness.
Our staff:
Eileen Mitsueda
Music Director
BJ Woo
Church Leadership
Moderator
moderator@montebelloucc.org
Board of Trustees Chairperson
trusteeschairperson@montebelloucc.org
Christian Ed Chairperson
cechairperson@montebelloucc.org
diaconate board Chairperson
diaconatechairperson@montebelloucc.org
Rev. Mitchell W. K. Young
Rev. Mitchell Young, a fourth-generation Chinese American, was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. He claims to be among the first generation of pastors born into the United Church of Christ (UCC) as the UCC. He grew up in the peaceful neighborhood of Kaimuki, East Honolulu, raised in the Kaimuki Evangelical Church, UCC and graduated from Kalani High School in 1979.
He graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1984 (B.A., Drama &Theatre) and from Fuller Theologial Seminary (M.Div., Christian Formation and Discipleship) in 1989. Before entering the pastorate, he served a 3-year mission in Thailand through the Presbyterian Church (USA), serving in their Departments of Education and Evangelism.
Rev. Young served his first two pastorates in the Hawaii Conference UCC as associate pastor of The Community Church of Honolulu, UCC (1994-1996) and then as pastor of Hanapepe UCC (1997-2005), during which time he was ordained in the Kauai Association UCC in 1998, married Nitaya Luckanavonaporn of Chiangmai, Thailand in 2001 and together welcomed the birth of their daughter Natasha in 2003.
Since 2005, Rev. Young has been serving as senior pastor of Montebello Plymouth Congregational Church, a historically Japanese American, now multiracial, multicultural UCC church in Montebello, California.
Rev. Young’s other training and experience includes Clinical Pastoral Education, Interim Ministers Network training, hospital and police chaplaincy. He has coordinated several multi-church pulpit exchanges on Kauai and in Los Angeles. One of his passions is for multicultural and multilingual diversity and has helped express “God is still speaking,” and “A Just World for All” in a variety of languages spoken in the UCC. He is also an active member of the Pacific Islander and Asian American Ministries (PAAM) and has served as editor of PAAM Sunday liturgy for several years. Rev. Young and spouse Nitaya also enjoy crafting multicultural clerical stoles.
