Rakusei church is one of the most inspiring ones I’ve seen in Japan. It has young, middle-aged and older members, and lots of new Christians. I spent four months with them in 2008, as part of my orientation period as a new WEC Japan missionary, to see first-hand how a Japanese church operates. I enjoyed spending time with the 10 children and 30 adults in the church, and learning about their ways of being family together and their outreach methods.
One of the secrets Rakusai Church has is having a mid-week gospel choir. People search for {gospel choirs in Kyoto} on the internet and find the church easily. Ever since the film Sister Act, African-American style songs have been a hit in Japan. The other secret is the pastor and his wife connect well with people of their age-range – they are late 30s, live joyfully and give people freedom. People enjoy being around them – so do I! The pastor attends a “Generation X” gathering once a month, to bounce ideas off other pastors of a similar age.
The church was started 39 years ago, by a German missionary called Gisela Wind. A local hairdresser was keen to study the Bible with her, and became a Christian. A home meeting was started above the hair salon; the hairdressers’ parents, brothers and sister-in-laws also came to faith in Christ. They are still in the church, shining with joy from the inside, as well as being well-groomed on the outside!
After the first German missionary there were two more missionaries who led the church in turn, followed by a Japanese pastor. Then the church went back to foreign leadership: Patrick and Sarah McElligott from WEC UK. They became “famous” – Patrick toured schools, speaking to PTA groups on bringing up children. The church grew immensely, and two of today’s leaders were saved through their witness; they are still talked about today. But after the high came a low. The next pastor stepping in after them struggled as he saw the church split and people drift away. As he stepped down, Takuya Okumura took the reins. He says, “I do not understand how a church grows up. But I know I love Jesus and I want to serve Lord and church.”
Since coming seven years ago, Pastor Okumura has baptized on average two new Christians a year. The population of the area is transient though, as the church is located on the train route between Kyoto and Osaka. Some older members of the church have also left as the atmosphere and practice has changed, so despite the new birth, the congregation size hasn’t altered recently.
The number of Sunday services has increased though, to four in the day, to cater for peoples’ varying timetables, and a new building was built last year. It’s tall lighted-cross is visible from the train. From September 2008 a contemporary-style worship service was started. Pastor Okumura said at the inception of this idea, “In this service we will sing contemporary worship songs in English, and sometimes Japanese. People find it easier to connect with God when not singing in Japanese, for the modern songs at least. Young Japanese people don’t like religion; singing in Japanese sounds religious. My aim is for people to passionately engage with God. At present the ‘one size fits all’ service model isn’t doing that. But I worry about whether we can keep the church unified as we seek more diversity’’.
Another unusual aspect is that a lot of the church members are divorced. It was after those recently divorced became ‘single’ again, that many started coming to the church. They moved from a time of loneliness, to finding acceptance, family and new life. However due to having to support themselves financially, and the Japanese work ethic, there is little time on weekdays for meeting up. Therefore they usually spend all day at the church on a Sunday, eating lunch and talking or doing activities like jewelery-making or Bible study together in the afternoon. There is a lack of nuclear-family role-models in the church, but there is certainly a family-feel between the adults and children in the church, all adopted by God.
Rakusei church has one missionary they’ve sent out – to Mongolia with WEC. The church prays for her, the pastor went to Mongolia to visit her, and they provide an airport ‘pick-up’ for her. Amazing!