On Saturday, Oct. 19, the 3rd EcuPro (Ecumenical Project) event was held, joining the voices of our staff and participants at the Tokyo Lutheran Church, Japan.

The overarching theme of our work is "Let Christian unity begin from the youth!” The many young people who joined in the planning and management were from various church backgrounds, including Roman Catholic, Kyodan, and Anglican/Episcopalian. Originally, this work began during the 2017 lead-up to the celebration of the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Our first ecumenical gathering was held under the banner "Let's Do Something Together!" These events became an important meeting place for Christian young people to gather beyond the usual circles of our respective churches, denominations, schools, and companies. Through these events, we were able to meet and to pray together.

The theme of this third event was “prayer,” so it was entitled “PrayStation3.” In addition to the 40 members of the steering committee, more than 70 young people attended the event, for a total of more than 100 participants. Furthermore, about one-third of the participants were first-timers, and two-thirds were early career people from the business world.

One of the steering committee members, Ms. Ikemoto Anna, a believer from Totsuka Catholic Church and a career woman, explains about the theme "PrayStation3" as follows.

1. First, the key to understanding this theme is that "play" and "pray" have nearly the same pronunciation in Japanese. Remember that our first meeting was about “doing something together” while our the second gathering was centered more on matters of "faith." Now in this third session, we gathered to ask, "When young people of the same faith meet together, let’s ask each other what we pray for?” We had questions about "prayer."

2. The second key word in this theme is "station." A station is a place where people gather, but it is also a turning point from which those who have gathered head to their respective destinations. Here young people gather, meet, gain something, and are sent out to their respective destinations. "EcuPro" is a place that plays such a role.

3. Lastly, there is the allusion between our theme “PrayerStation3” and the common game machine "PlayStation 3," which was popular when we were growing up. The desire of our staff is to value prayer. This is at the heart of the entire project. We are a prayer-centered gathering. We begin with an opening prayer and we pray together in the last joint service.

This event included a rock-style service led by Pastor Sekino Kazuhiro, who is famous as a "Rock 'n' Roller" within the Japanese Evangelical Lutheran Church. He taught about the Lord's Prayer. There are four versions of the Japanese translation of the Lord’s Prayer used in different denominations, and all were included in the program.

Then after we worked up a sweat in an ice-breaker game, we went into small group sessions to reflect on our prayers and there shared our feelings about prayer. Then, we continued to consider how to make progress toward someday holding a joint Sacrament of Communion. We need to recognize our differences but also find our agreement in Christ. We made time to meditate on unity, hoping that the day will come when we will be able to share a joint sacrament of communion.

At the joint service, Father Sato Naoki of the Order of Salegio presided over the ceremony along with Pastor Masuda Shohei from Aoyama Church of the Kyodan. They were responsible for the sermon and for leading the prayers during the session.

Ms. Miura Kotono, who is a member of the Japanese Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ikebukuro, participated in “EcuPro” for the first time and shared her impressions of the meeting. “In the small group session, I learned for the first time that there are differences in the way we pray. For example, some pray using a Catholic rosary, whereas, others use meditation, such as in Protestant devotions.I was moved to see how Father Sato Naoki, Pastor Sekino of The Lutheran Church, and Rev. Masuda of the Kyodan talked to God, and later talked to each other, like friends. Through this experience it has become my honest prayer to become able to say anything to God without inhibitions.”

Although there is some unfortunate history of criticism between our various backgrounds and denominations, here we transcend this through prayer-centered fellowship. It was encouraging to have participants from so many backgrounds, including the Non-church Movement. Many of the participants enjoyed talking together even after the meeting and many want to meet again. Based on these experiences, we think that we are gradually achieving our objective. We could glimpse the hope of the Church in Japan as we learned from each other's differences and worshiped as one. (Tr. NB)

—From Shinto no Tomo (Believer’s Friend), January 2020 issue

Summarized by Kofukada Yutaka, KNL Editorial Committee member

第３回エキュメニカルプロジェクト開催

違いから学び、一つになって礼拝

１０月１９日（土）、日本ルーテル東京教会を会場に開催された第３回“えきゅぷろ”（エキュメニカルプロジェクト）についてスタッフと参加者の声と共に報告する。

“えきゅぷろ”は、「キリスト教各教派の一致を青年たちから始めよう！」をスローガンに、カトリック、日本基督教団、聖公会を中心とした青年たちが企画も運営もすべて手掛ける。宗教改革五百周年に向け「一緒に何かしよう！」との機運が高まり2017年に最初の集いがスタートした。教派を超えた青年が集まり、互いを知り、祈ることを目的に始められた集いだが、青年同士の出会いの場となる事も大切にしている。

第３回となる今回のテーマは「祈り」、「PrayStation3」と名付けられた。参加者は運営委員スタッフ40名に加え、70名超の参加者があり100名を超える青年たちが参集し、約三分の一が初参加、又社会人が三分の二を占めた。

今回の「PrayStation3」について、運営委員スタッフの一人池本安奈さん（カトリック戸塚教会信徒、社会人）は、こう説明する。

第一に、一語目は“Play”ではなく“Pray”(日本語では同じ発音)であることがキーです。第１回は

「出会い」、第２回は「信仰」をテーマとしました。第３回は集まったスタッフたちが「同じ信仰を持つ青年が出会って、みんなは何を祈っているのだろう？」という疑問を持つにいたり、「祈り」について考えることになったのです。

二語目の“Station”は、皆が集まる場所であると同時に、そこに集まった人がそれぞれの目的地へと向かう分岐点でもあります。青年が集い、出会い、そして何かを得てそれぞれの目的地へ派遣されていく。“えきゅぷろ”はそうした役割を持つ場です。

そして“３”は“第3回”です。

若者ならだれでも知っているゲーム機“Playstation3”に因んで“PrayStation3”となりました。

「祈り」を大切にしたいスタッフの思いは、プロジェクト全体の構成にも込められています。開会の祈りに始まり、最後の合同礼拝で共に祈るという、祈りを中心に据えたものです。

当日は、会場となった日本福音ルーテル東京教会の“ロックン・ロール牧師”として有名な関野和覚牧師のロックな開会礼拝で始まり、「主の祈り」について説教、式次第には四つの「主の祈り」のパターンが示された。次に皆でゲームで汗を流した後は、小グループセッションに入り、自らの祈りの生活を振り返り、夫々の祈りへの思いを分かち合った。続いて、違いを認めつつキリストにあって一致するための「聖餐を考えるためのプログラム（仮称）」では、共に聖餐に与れる日が来ることを願いつつ、“一致”のために黙想する時を持った。

合同礼拝ではサレジオ修道会の佐藤直樹神父が司式し、増田将平牧師（日本基督教団・青山教会）が説教を担当、セッションの中で作られた祈りの言葉が捧げられた。

初めて“えきゅぷろ”に参加した三浦ことのさん（日本福音ルーテル東京池袋教会会員）は、会の印象を次のように語る。

少人数のグループセッションで、カトリックのロザリオを用いた祈りや、プロテスタントのデｲボーションという祈りと黙想など、祈り方にも個人差や教派によって違いがあることを初めて知りました。

又カトリック教会の佐藤直樹神父、ルーテル教会の関野和覚牧師、日本基督教団の増田将平牧師などの登壇者トークで印象的だったのは、登壇者の方々が友達のように神様に話しかけている事です。もっと神様に何でも言っていい、それが飾らない私の素直な祈りであると知りました。

教派はどちらかといえば否定的に捉えられところがあるが、ここではそうではない。無教会の青年も参加している。集会終了後も話し込む人、再会を約する人たちが多く、会の目的は達成されたようだ。互いの違いから学びつつ一つになって礼拝する姿に日本の教会の希望を見た。　　　　　　　（「信徒の友」編集部）2020年1月号。小深田裕KNL編集委員要約