On April 8, 1984, Jodo Shinshu Buddhists from across the Pacific Northwest gather at the Sherwood Inn in South Tacoma to honor Reverend Sunya Pratt (1898-1986) for the 50 years she has served as teacher and leader at the Tacoma Buddhist Temple. Pratt first joined the congregation in 1934 and was ordained by Bishop Masuyama in 1936. From the year she joined, she led the English-language Buddhist education program at what was then known as the Tacoma Buddhist Church and it quickly grew, attracting Nisei (second generation Japanese Americans) who deeply appreciated the opportunity to learn the Dharma (teachings) in the language they had grown up speaking.