The fourth Executive Council meeting of the present two-year general assembly period took place Feb. 17-18 at the Kyodan headquarters, with 29 of the 30 members in attendance. Following an opening worship service led by council member Fukaya Haruo, General Secretary Nagasaki Tetsuo gave a report on fundraising for the East Japan Disaster relief and reconstruction. Funds collected from within the country for the Kyodan effort have reached 667, 650,000 yen, and with the addition of the US$ 1,122,344 grant from the United Methodist Committee on Overseas Relief (UMCOR), the total received from overseas has now reached 370 million yen. He also reported that after the dissolution of the Japan North American Commission on Cooperative Mission (JNAC) in 2003, dialog with the North American churches had declined, but there an effort is now being made to revive such conferencing.
Following this, the chairperson of the International Conference on the East Japan Disaster, Ito Mizuo, reported on the upcoming conference, which is to be held March 11–15 at Tohoku Gakuin University in Sendai, with a budget of 24,250,000 yen. Approximately 150 participants from inside Japan are to be joined by about 60 international participants from Asia, Europe, and North America.
The Board of Publications reported that the sale of hymnals is now about evenly split between the older 1954 hymnal and the new “Hymnal 21” but that the church-related schools around the country are now overwhelmingly using the newer hymnal.
In the ongoing task of revising the church’s Basic Theory of Mission, the draft document had been sent to all of the districts for review and comment, and after each district gave their reports, the Executive Council discussed it further. Most of the comments were supportive of the draft, and so Moderator Ishibashi proposed that a committee be formed to make the formal proposal for ratification at the next Executive Council meeting, and that was adopted.
Next, the proposal that had been previously tabled, the “Resolution calling on the Japanese government to revoke the plan to build the Kaminoseki Nuclear Power Plant and to immediately begin decommissioning existing nuclear power plants” was reintroduced. Previously, a committee had been set up to rewrite the proposal, and those revisions were discussed and then approved by a majority vote. Then, a related proposal entitled “Recognition of the participation of the Kyodan in the movement to abolish nuclear power production” was introduced. After discussion, an amendment was introduced to rename the proposal as “Calling on Kyodan churches to participate in the movement to abolish nuclear power production,” and that was approved.
After receiving the report from the Task Force on Issues Surrounding the Japan Christian Center Building concerning the results of the earthquake-resistance analysis of the Japan Christian Center Building, Moderator Ishibashi proposed a temporary move of the Kyodan offices for the safety of the office staff. A temporary relocation was approved, although details such as the temporary site, timing, and budget have yet to be decided. (Tr. TB)
—Kato Makoto, executive secretary
第38総会期第4回常議員会報告
第38総会期第4回常議員会は、2月17，18日と教団会議室で30人中29人が出席して開催された。深谷春男常議員による開会礼拝の後、長崎哲夫総幹事は東日本大震災募金につい て、国内6億6765万円、海外はUMCORから100万ドルの献金を得て3億7000万円に達したと報告。2003年のJNACの解散以来薄くなっていた北米諸教会との対話のため、協議会の復活を目指して交流を続けていると報告し た。続いて伊藤瑞男（Ito Mizu)o東日本大震災国際会議委員長は、3月11日から4日間、東北学院大学を会場にして開催される国際会議には、アジア、欧州、北米の各国から60名、国内参加者150名と合わせて210名の参加を見込んでいる。予算は2425万と報告した。出版局報告では、54年版讃美歌と讃美歌21の売り上げがほぼ均等になったが、キリスト教主義学校では圧倒的に讃美歌21が使用されていると報告された。
「宣教基礎理論の改定に関する件」では、既に草案が各教区に配布され、意見をまとめることが要請されて いたため、各教区からの報告を聞き、常議員も加わり意見交換がなされたが、概ね賛成の意見が述べられた。石橋議長は議案化も含めて次 回常議員会に提言を行うための委員会設置を提案し、議場はこれを承認した。
継続審議である「上関(Kaminoseki)原発建設計画の白紙撤回と既存原発の即時廃止を日本政府に求める件」が上程された。前回は修正議案作成の ために委員が選出されたが、今回はその修正について議論されたが、賛成多数で承認された。次に「日本基督教団として脱原発への働きに 参与することを確認する件」が上程された。議場から議案名そのものの修正が提案され、審議の結果「日本基督教団に所属する諸教会・伝 道所に対して脱原発の働きに参与することを呼びかける件」と議案名が変更され承認された。
日本キリスト教会館の耐震診断結果と会館問題特別委員会の協議を受け、石橋議長から館内で働く職員の安 全のため、教団事務局等の一時移転が提案され可決した。移転先、期間、予算規模等はなお未定である。（加藤誠）
