Rev. Katsuya Kusunoki
Resident Minister for Seattle Betsuin.
Bio
Reverend Katsuya Kusunoki is the Head Minister of the Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple. Sensei was born in Nagasaki, Japan, the second son of a temple family. Today his older brother Naoya is the 17th generation of their family to serve their family temple. Sensei is a graduate of Miyazaki University where he majored in primary education and his hobby is to watch and play baseball and softball. While a college student he took a break and spent almost two and a half years in a Japanese volunteer program similar to the Peace Corps in America coaching baseball in Zimbabwe before returning to Japan to complete his studies. After graduating he spent three years teaching 3rd and 6th grade classes before deciding to become a minister.
Sensei’s advanced training includes the Hongwanji-ha Rituals course for leaders (Gonshiki). He is a Hongwanji-ha certified Special Rituals Minister, a certificate only he and our former minister Rev. Sala Sekiya hold within the Buddhist Churches of America. Sensei’s first assignment in America was to the Lodi Buddhist Temple in 2010 and he was transferred to Seattle in April of 2017. Sensei and his wife Ayano have a son, Yuiya, who was born in September 2016. “rev.kusunoki@seattlebetsuin.com”
Rev. Rosalie May
Minister Assistant at Seattle Betsuin and Ministerial Advisor at Yakima Buddhist Church
Bio
Reverend Rosalie May is the Assistant Minister at the Yakima Buddhist Temple, serving under Reverend Kusunoki. She became certified as a Minister’s Assistant under Reverend Castro at Seattle Buddhist Temple in 2013, and received her Tokudo ordination at the mother temple, Nishi Hongwanji, in Kyoto in 2016. She lives in Seattle with her husband, Reverend Matt May, who serves as a Minister’s Assistant at the Seattle Buddhist Temple and is the Head of Inclusive Design at Adobe. Rev. Rosalie is a volunteer mediator, and has taught Mindfulness, Meditation, and Non-violent Communication to incarcerated individuals at Monroe Correctional Complex. As a queer and disabled person who is in recovery, Rev. Rosalie strives to make every service and event as inclusive as possible.