Church in Japan.

Despite over 450 years of contact with Christianity, Japan is less than 1% Christian. For whatever reason, Christianity hasn't really stuck. I've talked about in previous posts about Christmas being seen as a romantic couple's holiday and Japan's long history of persecution of Christians until 140 years ago. The modern Japanese church is small but determined, though--and quite close-knit. (When your numbers are so few, you can't really afford major schisms.)

I work for the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church, one of the two major Lutheran denominations here. The JELC has 22,000 baptized members spread across 238 churches around the country. The typical church is quite small, and its members skew toward the older end of the age spectrum, a result of the Japanese church's small revival immediately following World War II. (At a national Lutheran teens' camp Morgan, Caroline, and I were invited to in March, there were 94 kids in attendance. My little summer camp back in Northern California has had more teens for a single week of high school camp than there were 12-to-18-year-olds at this national gathering, which was held at a little retreat center in Aso. Compare the ELCA Youth Gathering, which last year saw 33,000 teens fill the Superdome in New Orleans.)

Entrance to Kuwamizu Church (behind the tree). Yes, that's a Shintō
torī gate at the front--there's a shrine further down the street. The church
jokes that one of these days a cross should be engraved on the torī, too.

There are five JELC churches in Kumamoto City, and four are currently served by J-3s. I am assigned to Kuwamizu Lutheran Church, founded in 1932. It's a small church, but very active. Kuwamizu is also connected to The Colony of Love and Mercy, the first welfare organization in Kumamoto. Founded in 1919 by American Lutheran missionary Maud Powlas, it has several homes for orphaned and abused babies and children, developmentally disabled adults, and the elderly, as well as a kindergarten.

Most of my work is based in the church itself. I attend morning worship every Sunday, and once a month hold an English Bible Study after the service. I also help out with Sunday School in the mornings, where the teachers sometimes have the kids practice their English with me. (The most common questions are "How old are you?", "How tall are you?", and "Do you have a boyfriend?" I find all three very amusing, and always answer honestly, except the third one. "It's a secret," I always tell them.)

Recent charity concert in the Kuwamizu sactuary.

Japanese Lutheran church services are pretty much the same as "old-school Lutheran services in America," according to the born-and-raised Lutheran Caroline. We follow the same order of worship every Sunday with the same "Gloria," "Kyrie," "Agnus Dei," and "Nunc Dimittis" refrains. Oh, and we always sing a few verses of Psalm 51 as the plate gets passed. I've also yet to encounter a Lutheran church without a pipe organ here. We sing hymns out of a churchwide hymnal made up of traditional European and American hymns (translated into Japanese) mixed with some Japanese compositions. (Praise bands and worship teams haven't really caught on in Japanese Lutheranism, though the pastor of Tokyo Lutheran himself heads up a rock band. There's a video here, and I highly recommend you check it out. Sekino-sensei rocks out in his vestments.)

Sanctuary of Kumamoto Lutheran Church.

One other important church event in town I'm involved with: the International English Service, every Sunday at 6pm at Kumamoto Lutheran Church. (If you're in town, stop on by! It's the little church on Sangōsen at the Suidōchō intersection, around the corner from the Daily Yamazaki.) We minister to the Christian (and sometimes non-Christian) English-speaking population of Kumamoto. I occasionally lead the service (though we usually leave the sermons to a local missionary pastor), but Katie and I also run a children's program before the service twice a month. It's a good way to get to know some of the missionary and English-speaking kids in town. They're a lot of fun. (And surprisingly good at Twister.)

It truly is a joy to serve the Japanese church, though much of the time I feel like I'm receiving much more than I'm giving. (The hospitality of church members here continues to floor me.) Please pray for this small but dedicated group of brothers and sisters in Christ as they live out the Gospel in an increasingly secular society.

This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially those who believe.
1 Timothy 4:9-10 (NIV)