Inspired by a Japanese tradition, a new addition to the church grounds provides a quiet place for reflection, remembrance, and love carried on the wind.

By Christine Piatek

Most of us have undoubtedly noticed the wooden shelter with a vintage white rotary phone next to the curved Sanctuary wall as we’ve traveled along the paved driveway. Denny Rodgers built the phone booth-like shelter with remnants of wood he had at home, and he and Penny Rodgers donated the vintage phone used by Penny’s dad in his office. The assembly is called a wind phone.

Itaru Sasaki, a garden designer from Otsuchi, Japan, created a wind phone in 2010 to help him grieve the loss of a family member. Because he could not channel them directly to his family member who had passed, he wanted his thoughts and words to be “carried on the wind.” After the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami killed more than 15,000 people in Japan, Sasaki offered his wind phone to the public. It sits in the beautiful gardens of Bell Gardia in Kujirayama. The response to the wind phone was amazing, with over 30,000 visitors traveling to Bell Gardia to call lost loved ones. With Sasaki’s inspiration, more than 140 wind phones are now in the United States and Canada. A website created by blogger Amy Dawson lists the location of publicly available wind phones.

Penny found the article about the wind phone in a Las Vegas newspaper. Denny and Penny shared the article with Rev. Kim and others who have lost loved ones, and all agreed a wind phone would be a meaningful addition to our church grounds. In her sermon on October 27, 2024, Rev. Kim described the healing power of the wind phone with stories of family members calling and speaking to loved ones who had died. Rev. Kim’s sermon can be found here. 

Denny shared this: “Having lost our daughter Kelly in May 2023, we have been in conversation with her on a regular basis, but thought this would be a wonderful way to continue conversations at a special, spiritual place.” Denny also shared that his hope for the wind phone has already been fulfilled, that members have found comfort at the station, and that they have spoken of the gift they have received through the experience. Anyone using the phone can note their experience or write a message for a loved one. The message can also be taken home.

The wind phone has been registered on Dawson’s website; a photograph can be seen here. It will have its permanent home in the Memorial Garden and is available for all to use anytime.