The Temple is Open Again!

A basic teaching of Buddhism is: Everything changes.  Nothing stays the same.  Our temple’s experiences over the last 5 years really demonstrate this principle of impermanence!

In 2020, our temple, like millions of institutions around the world, had to rethink how we operated to reduce the risk of spreading COVID in our communities.   For us, that meant moving to online services.  In the beginning, we had just one service a month online, but we gradually moved to online services twice a month. And once a month we would have take-out lunch pick-up in the parking lot, which allowed for a little social time. 

Photo:  Even on a cold winter day, our sangha stayed connected

We began offering face-to-face services at the temple in early 2022. But then, in July of 2022, the temple had a major fire.  We held our 2022 Obon service in our parking lot, just two days after the fire. The service was brief, but it reassured our community that our traditions would continue.

Photo: Obon Service July 2022 in the temple parking lot after the fire. 

Wanting to keep offering services in person while the temple was being repaired, Mike Iseri invited us to hold in-person services at the Iseri Agency building as the weather got cooler.  Since there were many people from around the country who had been joining services remotely by Zoom during the pandemic, we added a Zoom option for our in-person services and the result was that our community grew. And, on top of that, we got smarter and our tech skills improved. Ultimately, these challenges made us better!

Photo: Service held in person at the Iseri Agency winter of 2022-23

For a year and a half, repair work continued at the temple. Work was done by temple members and friends, contractors of all kinds, and even the skilled Wakabayashi altar cleaners who came all the way from Kyoto to care for our beloved altar.   

Photo:  The entire altar was taken apart to be cleaned. 

Finally, in the summer of 2023, we moved back into the temple building for our services.  First, we had to sit in folding chairs, but eventually we got our refurbished pews back.  We held our Hoonko service at the temple in January of 2024 and we celebrated with a traditional service, lunch, and BINGO!  There were still plenty of tasks to be completed—but we could use the building again and it was wonderful!

Since January, we have been working on updates, getting pictures hung, sorting supplies that had been in storage,  replacing items that were lost in the fire, and rethinking how we want the temple to work going forward.  It’s been a chance to upgrade and adapt.   Finally, it feels like things are getting back to “normal.”

Photo: Our ministers' photos have a new home in the foyer of our temple

On July 27, we held a public open-house and invited members of the community to come visit our temple.  We had a great response and made new friends and reconnected with old ones.  The next day we had our hybrid Obon service at the temple, officiated by our supervising minister, Rev. Jerry Hirano, and around 40 people attended.  And, again, there was lunch in the basement afterwards.

There are still lots of small things to be done, but after almost 5 years of challenges, I think it’s fair to say, “We’re BACK!”  Lots of hard work is behind us.  Our temple looks great—it’s clean, beautiful, and welcoming.

So, the next challenge is to answer the question: NOW WHAT?  We have worked hard to get to this point so that we can continue to share our Buddhist teachings and traditions with people who can benefit from what our tradition has to offer.  Now it’s time to consider what we want the future of the temple to look like.  It’s time to think about programs and activities that we can offer that will be meaningful to the people in our communities. 

• What have you missed about the temple? 
• What would you like to see happen here?  
• What interests, skills, and energies do you have that you can offer? 
• How can we support you? What can IOBT do to support our community? 

The temple has always functioned because of the energy of the community and the commitment of its volunteers.   As we prepare to move back to weekly services in September, there will be lots of chances to help out.  If you want to help, please let one of the ministers or temple leaders know.   

And if one of us invites you to participate in one of our activities, we hope you say, “YES.” 

In Gassho (with palms together), 

Rev. Anne Spencer

Assistant Minister, Idaho-Oregon Buddhist Temple