This month a respected and well-loved Englishman leaves Japan. Known for his humor, humanity and quick wit, the Rev. John Berg is retiring from Yokohama Christ Church, where he has been rector since 1968. Three years ago, he retired from Yokohama's Mission to Seamen, where he was concurrently chaplain.
"It was my choice to stay this long in Yokohama," he said. "But times change, and we have to acknowledge change."
He comes from a farming family in Suffolk, southeast England. As a young man, he said, "I dibbled and dabbled in different things. When I said I wanted to enter the church, my father wanted to make sure that was not another dabbling. After I convinced him, he gave me more than 100 percent encouragement." Berg studied in the Salisbury Theological College and was ordained in the landmark 13th century cathedral there.