Reverend James Kubal-Komoto

(If you are looking for a minister to officiate your wedding or another rite of passage, please click here. )

My name is James Kubal-Komoto, and I'm the minister of Saltwater Church. As the minister, I regularly lead worship on Sunday mornings. I believe that worship should be a celebration of life. In worship, we celebrate what is best in life while acknowledging life's limitations. We gather as a community of faith to express our deepest joys, sorrows, hopes, and fears while reminding ourselves of those aspects of life that are inspiring, sustaining, transforming and redeeming.

I try to give sermons that are thought-provoking, humorous, touching, down-to-earth and relevant to the lives of the people who are listening. Most of all, I try to give sermons that have spiritual depth. My hope is always that people will leave church on Sunday mornings feeling inspired.

I also regularly teach religious education classes, for new members and long-time members. I understand religious education as a life-long process in which we reflect on our own experiences and the experiences of others in order  to discover how each of us can live life with more fullness, richness, and depth. It is a process in which each of us work out the particulars for our own lives of what it means to be a religious person.

I am available to members and friends of the congregation for pastoral care and counseling. I care deeply about the people whom I serve as minister. I believe a  minister should be someone who is available to people to talk about both the big things and the little things that are going on in their lives, and I believe a minister should be someone people can trust to offer compassion, hope, listening, guidance, and encouragement.

I also understand part of my responsibility as minister is to motivate the congregation involvement in the larger community. There is an imperative for all of us to work for social justice. As Unitarian Universalists, we are called by our history, our theology, and the current social situation to work toward a better world for us all.

I am a graduate of Meadville/Lombard Theological School, an institution affiliated with the University of Chicago, and hold a doctorate of ministry degree. I also hold a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy from the University of Illinois.

How did I become a Unitarian Universalist minister? I grew up unchurched, but knew there was something missing in my life. I discovered Unitarian Universalism in my early twenties. The first Sunday morning I walked into a Unitarian Universalist church, I knew I had found a religious home.

Several years passed before I discerned a call to Unitarian Universalist ministry. During those years, I worked as a teacher, a journalist, and a corporate trainer.

F or four of those years, I lived in Tokyo, Japan, where I met my wife Hiromi, who is a native of Tokyo. We now live in Federal Way and very much enjoy living in the Pacific Northwest.

If you have questions about Unitarian Universalism or this congregation, please feel free to call me at (253) 839-5200 or e-mail me. I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you at church!