Leadership
Leaders of the Missionary Order of St. Augustine
Bishop Julian Mark Dobbs
Bishop, episcopal visitor
Bishop Julian is the Diocesan Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Living Word (ADLW), part of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), and has oversight of the clergy and congregations in the diocese. ADLW is a non-geographical diocese that includes congregations throughout the United States, as well as in Haiti and Ghana. In addition to the Missionary Order of St. Augustine in Japan, ADLW also has two other religious orders, including the first Anglican religious Order in the United States, founded in 1865.
Bishop Julian and his wife, Brenda, have made their home in Northern Virginia since 2006. Prior to that, after being ordained in the Anglican Church in New Zealand in 1991, he planted three congregations and served as the rector of the fastest growing Anglican church in the province. He was elected and consecrated as bishop by the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) in 2011 and is now a member of the College of Bishops of ACNA.
Bishop Julian is passionate about the saving power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is committed to empowering congregations, supporting clergy, transforming injustice, inspiring local and global mission, and planting churches.
Father Kevin Seaver
Vicar
Born in Texas in 1967, Father Kevin came to Japan in 1991 and worked for 10 years in the financial sector. After discerning a call to ordained ministry, he entered Virginia Seminary (VTS) in 2001. During his studies, he completed a Clinical Pastoral Education course at a general hospital in Virginia. He graduated with honors from VTS with a master’s in divinity in 2004. In March of that year, he presented a paper at the Northeast Conference of the Society of Biblical Literature, America’s oldest academic society.
Kevin returned to Japan and, after further study at the Central Theological College in Tokyo, began working at St. Stephen’s (Sanko) Church and St. Hilda’s (Koran) Girls’ School. He was ordained deacon in 2006 and ordained priest in 2008. From 2007 to 2020, he lectured in Christian studies at St. Luke’s International University while serving as chaplain of the affiliated hospital and as rector of St. Luke’s Chapel. In 2021, he published a commentary in Japanese on St. Luke’s gospel: Beloved Physician: Reading St. Luke’s Gospel in a Hospital.
In that same year, he was named professor emeritus at St. Luke’s International University. In 2023, he joined the Anglican Diocese of the Living Word, part of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), and began activities as a missionary priest in Japan.
When first setting out on his path to ordination, Father Kevin was struck by the words of the Lord Jesus: “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!” (Luke 12:49). Spreading the fire of God’s love in Jesus Christ is Father Kevin’s abiding passion.
Father Kevin lives with his wife Kumiko in Tokyo. His three children sometimes leave the nest and sometimes come back.
Father Berek Smith
Associate Priest
Father Berek Smith was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1984 to Protestant missionary parents. He received his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Whitefield College in Lakeland, Florida, his Master of Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida, his Master of Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey, and his Anglican Studies Certificate from Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Nashotah, Wisconsin. While studying for his Master of Divinity, he transferred to the Episcopal Church in the U.S. and was subsequently ordained to the diaconate (2013) and priesthood (2014) in the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Central Florida. After serving as a curate at St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church in Vero Beach, FL, he transferred to the Anglican Church of Japan, Diocese of Kita-Kanto in 2017, and worked as a school chaplain at Rikkyo Niiza Junior and Senior High School near Tokyo until March 2025.
In May 2025, Father Berek transferred to the Anglican Church of North America, Anglican Diocese of the Living Word, and joined the Missionary Order of St. Augustine in Tokyo, Japan. He currently works as an English teacher, a translator, and a cultural guide in Tokyo while assisting the Order. Father Berek is also a Japanese tea ceremony master with the Enshu School of Tea, and offers tea ceremony experiences and talks about tea ceremony and its relationship to Christianity.
Berek lives in Tokyo with his wife Eri and his young son Justo. He believes Japan will be a Christian nation one day and is working to that end.
Gordon Allan
board director
Gordon Allan was born in 1972 near Liverpool in the U.K. He studied developmental biology at the University of Glasgow before retraining as a language teacher and moving to Japan in 2001. He has been living and teaching in Tokyo ever since. Gordon completed an M.A. in Language Testing in 2017 and currently teaches English at university.