Santa Barbara, Yakima Are Being Revitalized

In spring 2024, the Buddhist Church of Santa Barbara (BCSB) asked its 24 members a simple but gloomy question: “Shall we keep the church open with new leadership or close down the church?”

Ten members replied. Five said to keep the church open and pledged their help; two said close it down; three expressed mixed feelings. The results were announced in the temple’s July newsletter. 

The temple would remain open.

A little more than a year later, the 102-year-old temple is undergoing a revitalization. The first Obon festival in six years was a success, membership has doubled to nearly 50 and newcomers are coming to every monthly service.

“A year ago, we had no hope. It was a matter of ‘How are we going to close it down?’” said Jodi Miles, a Pasadena transplant who has been a member for more than 30 years. “I think an awful lot of people are willing to keep going as long as we can. There’s nobody who is negative.”

Bishop Rev. Marvin Harada said the temple’s mood has switched from “doom and gloom” to “feeling positive about the future.”

The revival is rooted in the decision of the Sangha itself to lay the foundation for a future. No one wanted to be president, but seven members — Miles is one of them  — stepped forward to become officers to lead the temple.

Two of the other officers are Sets and Dennis Furuike, considered the backbone of the temple before, during and after the COVID shutdown. Members Ted Muneno and Dennis Ito have maintained the buildings and landscaping; Muneno served as interim acting president.

Late last summer, Sangha members volunteered to give the Dharma talks for the monthly services. Jamie “JJ” Uyehara — another of the seven new officers — took over the newsletter and Sangha member Christophe Sautot stepped up to update the temple website. In an effort to attract more people, the new officers decided to temporarily suspend membership dues.

Rev. Harada was the guest speaker in February. He also dipped into his Bishop’s budget to assign Rev. Dr. Jean-Paul Contreras deGuzman, a Minister’s Assistant at the San Fernando Valley Hongwanji Buddhist Temple. DeGuzman taught Asian American studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and was familiar with the temple. In addition, Rev. Dr. deGuzman was a BCA Dharma Forward Tokudo scholarship recipient.

“We all think he’s a draw,” Uyehara said of Rev. deGuzman. “He’s fun, so positive and welcoming, and in tune with the folks we’d like to attract.”

The BCA help for Santa Barbara follows a successful pilot program in 2022 to rejuvenate the Yakima Buddhist Temple, which was also in a precarious situation. 

With financial support from BCA’s Dharma Forward, Rev. Harada assigned Rev. Rosalie May, a Minister’s Assistant from the Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple, to conduct services twice a month in Yakima, and the BCA helped redesign the temple website, which both proved to be key reasons in attracting new people. 

The mood remains mostly upbeat in Yakima and around BCA temples that are rooting for collective temple success.

“We have seen many new faces and our facilities have been updated,” said Yakima temple President Lon Inaba. “We have new, exciting leaders stepping up for fundraising events. We have more children attending than we have seen for many years. We have a pianist that is the first for 40-plus years.”

At the same time, longtime active members are passing away or are no longer able to continue in their roles. 

Temple member M. Gaby Mondragon hopes Yakima can eventually start a Dharma School program.

“It is a slow and steady growth and hopefully more of us younger folks, my family included, could be more of a contribution to keeping the place alive,” Mondragon said.  

The hopeful signs in Yakima and Santa Barbara occur as the overall paid membership continues to decline, according to a 2025 report to the BCA National Council Meeting. BCA has 9,711 members this year compared to 9,957 last year.

The seeds of the Santa Barbara temple were planted in 1913, when local immigrants began meeting as a branch of the Guadalupe Buddhist Church. Ten years later, a separate church and building were founded. The temple moved in 1966 to the current location on Montecito Street, southeast of downtown Santa Barbara.

But people who have grown up in the temple often move away because of the high cost of housing and has limited job opportunities, according to Uyehara.

Nonetheless, Rev. deGuzman believes that Jodo Shinshu Buddhism has an opportunity to grow in the area.

“In many ways, Santa Barbara is a very spiritual town and so the key thing is to spread awareness of the temple,” he said. “It has a rich, resilient and storied history, not to mention a gorgeous campus and a dedicated core group of lay leaders.”

Rev. deGuzman and temple leaders have expanded outreach and education programs in several ways:

• Monthly Saturday services and other programs are advertised, which is attracting new visitors each month. The church has reached out to members of the UC Santa Barbara Nikkei Student Union.

• The church website has been cleaned up and expanded with a FAQ for first-time visitors, information on the basics of Buddhism and Jodo Shinshu and other programs such as Qigong.

• WiFi was installed in the temple, which allows services to be streamed on Facebook and YouTube.

• A monthly lecture and discussion occurs after the Saturday monthly services with food. Rev. deGuzman calls this “Lunch and Learn.”

  
  

“It’s a slow, steady and rewarding process and I hope that we will continue to witness growth,” Rev. deGuzman said.

The decision to host the first Obon festival since 2019 energized the Sangha and larger community, according to Uyehara and Miles. Centered around the odori (dancing), the festival also featured a performance by the Oxnard Buddhist Temple taiko group, crafts and cultural displays. They gave out free water and sold some baked goods.

About 200 people attended, a modest amount, but the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.

“It was fun,” Miles said. “The community remembered us and people came out … since Obon, we’ve had more people attending (service) and younger people, so that’s good.”

Obon for 2026 is a definite go for the temple. 

There are still challenges and issues. New leaders will need to step forward and Uyehara said the temple needs a presence on social media — both works in progress.

But for now, Uyehara said the temple is trying to be more visible at outside community events. In October, BCSB had a table at the 16th Annual Asian American Neighborhood Festival along with a “Tanko Bushi” demonstration by Roberta Cook, a member of one of the founding families, the Fujii family. We want to continue outreach and growing our Sangha, welcoming all.

“We are all rolling and we are all looking forward,” she said.