Our Church

Our Mission Statement

The Placer Buddhist Church strives to nurture compassion, mindfulness, gratitude, peace, tolerance, inclusiveness, and spiritual exploration by providing a place where everyone is welcome.  Our mission is to continually learn and live the Buddhist Teachings to reduce suffering and support our lives and the lives around us.  We offer an open door to sharing these teachings, as well as friendship and community.

PBC Annual Report's

The Placer Buddhist Church Annual reports are available for review.  Use the links below to download and review the document. 


A President's Reflection   

April 2023


Welcome Spring! The arrival of spring brings a sense of renewal and rebirth, and the blooming of flowers is a beautiful reminder of this. The abundance of rain we've had can definitely contribute to a super bloom, which can be a spectacular sight to behold, which is just in time for Hanamatsuri, also known as the Flower Festival or Buddha's Birthday, an important Buddhist holiday. Hanamatsuri celebrates the birth of the Buddha, and the Hanamido will be covered with colorful flowers symbolizing the beauty and purity of the Buddha's teachings. The pouring of sweet tea over a small statue of the Buddha is an act of purification and gratitude. Overall, Hanamatsuri is a wonderful celebration that reminds us of the beauty and significance of the Buddha's teachings, and the importance of renewal and growth in our own lives, and we will celebrate this holiday on April 9th. To top off this celebration, the PBWA is taking pre-orders for take-out box lunches with the famous PBC teriyaki chicken. Last month I had the opportunity to attend the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) National Council Meeting, along with temple leaders throughout the country and even Canada. This year’s theme is “The benefits of following the Shin Buddhist path,” by focusing on the benefit of a life of self-introspection. (See Bishop Harada’s article.)

 

It's heartening to hear about the sense of community that is still present in many Buddhist temples, despite the unique challenges they are facing. We are all working at retaining current members while also attracting new members to learn about the teachings of the Buddha. BCA provides temples with ministerial support and the education for both the ministers and sangha. The BCA's efforts to train more ministers is also a positive step towards addressing the shortage of ministers in the country, ensuring that Buddhist temples have the resources they need to continue providing guidance and support to their members. There are numerous committees and organizations of the BCA providing resources for temples and sangha, and each of those committees and organizations gave reports of their progress and achievements which is in a 256-page report! Next year’s National Council meeting will be held both virtually and in-person at the Sacramento Betsuin, and our former president, Allan Yamashiro, is the chair. Overall, it's important for Buddhist communities to continue working together to address the challenges they are facing, while also embracing the sense of community and support that is so central to Buddhist teachings. To help support our community and neighboring Buddhist communities, we will have information about events happening in nearby temples so we can support their efforts as they have always been so supportive of ours. Keep checking the PBC website for information at PlacerBuddhistChurch.org.

 

Once again, thank you to everyone that has given so much time and energy for keeping the programs going at PBC so we can continue offering our community a place to gather and take care of one another.

 


In Gassho, 

Rene' Yamashiro, PBC President


Our Contact Information

Placer Buddhist Church

3192 Boyington Road

Penryn, CA. 95663

(916) 652-6139


Our Church

The Placer Buddhist Church is located at 3192 Boyington Road in Penryn California, County of Placer. It is located at the scenic base of the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains just off Interstate 80. It is approximately halfway between San Francisco and Reno, Nevada.

The Church was founded in 1902 in the small foothill town of Penryn. The original church was near the center of town approximately 3 miles from its current location. The church moved to its current location in 1963. The church is well known in the community for annual food bazaar which is typically held on the 4th weekend of September. The annual food bazaar  began in 1964, just after the church moved to  its new location.

The church supports organizations such as the Placer Buddhist Women’s Association (PBWA), Young Buddhist Association (YBA), Sierra Bonsai Club, Dharma School, and Placer Ume Taiko Groups. The church also holds various classes during the week including calligraphy, flower arranging, Tai Chi, Obon dancing and exercise classes. See the church calendar for class times.

Dharma services and group activities have been limited during the Covid-19 pandemic and will reopen when safe to publicly meet. 

Supervising Minister

    Rev. Matt Hamasaki

Minister's Assistants

    Rich Kawahata

    Michi Mitani

    Ed Nakamoto

2023 PBC Officers

    President

            René Yamashiro

    1st Vice President

            David Unruhe

    2nd Vice President

            Dave Oseto

    Recording Secretary

            Doris Mar

            George Uyeki

    Treasurer

            Karen Takayama

    Auditor

            Linda Dickerson