HELLO...
From our ministers and Minister’s Assistants
THE BUDDHIST TEMPLE OF SAN DIEGO and its ministerial team welcomes you and thanks you for your interest.
Most temples in our BCA network (Buddhist Churches of America) have full-time resident ministers to guide the Temple forward, and we hope to regain a full-time minister in the next 12 months.
In the meanwhile, we are tremendously grateful for the wise and gentle guidance of our Supervising Minister, Reverend Jundo Gregory Gibbs, of the Pasadena Buddhist Temple. Reverend Gibbs oversees a deep bench of ordained and non-ordained ministers and assistants. All are part-time, who together with the Supervising Minister support the spiritual life of the Temple.
Welcome from the Supervising Minister
Welcome to the Buddhist Temple of San Diego. Our temple is open to all persons of good will (so long as they follow the relevant, current, health protocols). We hope you will find our approach to Buddhism to be spirituality engaging and appealing.
Buddhist tradition, 2,500 years into its development, displays a striking variety in its liturgical and iconographic expression, in its styles of art and of comportment, even in its doctrines. We all believe in cause and effect, sharing and kindness. You may want to check out some other Buddhist temples as well. We will not be jealous. You may want to join our services regularly; that would please us greatly.
We all wish you good health, peace, and warm companionship.
Sincerely, Rev. Jundo Gregory Gibbs
Our Complete Ministerial Staff
Rev. Jundo Gregory Gibbs, Pasadena Buddhist Temple, and Supervising Minister of the Buddhist Temple of San Diego
Minister’s Assistants
Rev. Hōkai “Smitty” Smith, Kyoshi Ordination
Rev. Shidou Laverne Imori, Tokudo Ordination
Chaplain Noriko Kawai, Qualified in Interfaith Hospice Care
Certified Minister’s Assistant
Arturo Rubio, Certified Minister’s Assistant
Sharon Sasaki, Certified Minister’s Assistant
Kaytee Sumida, Minister’s Assistant
Bill Teague, Certified Minister’s Assistant
Yukari Williams, Certified Minister’s Assistant
Notes:
Tokudo and Kyoshi are the two levels of ordination in our tradition. To reach to the level of a Kaikyoshi minister — which wuld allow a Kyoshi minister to lead a Temple as a full-time resident minister — requires additional certification, achieved after a year of supervision and on the approval of the supervising minister. That is, the Kaikyoshi is not an ordination but a certification.
Minister’s Assistants are identified by the resident or supervising minister and undergo training in that role to support the ministerial effort. The BCA certifies Minister’s Assistants on the completion of service and educational requirements.
Language. Both Chaplain Kawai, CMA, and Yukari Williams, CMA, grew up in Japan and are bi-lingual speakers of English and Japanese. Arturo Rubio, CMA, grew up in Mexico and is bilingual in English and Spanish.
Rev. Akahoshi’s Legacy
We are happy our former resident minister, Rev. Kenji Akahoshi, was able to retire in late 2021 to spend more time with grandkids and family back in San Jose. He loyally served our Temple from 2013 to 2021. We miss him and wish him well.
In his time at the Temple he developed a full staff of Ministers and Minister’s Assistants. For us his Dharma legacy is an emphasis on everyday ways to understand and live the Dharma. He frequently encouraged us to express gratitude for what we already have in our daily lives.
Kenji Sensei continues to teach and lecture, even in his retirement.