Matsubara Kazuhito

Who was Matsubara Kazuhito?

Matsubara Kazuhito is the founder of a Japanese independent church known as the Living Christ One Ear of Wheat Church. Matsubara Kazuhito first came into contact with Christianity through the Mino Mission while a junior high student. While a student at Kyoto University he began to stufy Christianity more seriously after hearing lectures on science and religion by Satō Teikichi, a Christian professor. Following graduation from university he moved to Kōbe and became an elementary school teacher. He converted to Christianity as a result of attending services led by an evangelistic group related to Barclay Baxton, a low-church Anglican who served as a missionary in Kōbe and Matsue from 1890 to 1891.

Matsubara subsequently felt a call to be an evangelist and attended Bible school for one year to prepare for the ministry. He began independent evangelistic work in 1939. During the postwar period, the Living Christ One Ear of Wheat Church has grown to include eighteen churches and a membership of over one thousand. Matsubara died in 1966, and his wife, Saki, has led the church since that time.