“A Church Conference for Youth in 2014” was held at the Kokusai Seishonen Kenshu Center (International Youth Training Center) at Tozanso, a YMCA facility, Aug. 19-21. Sponsored by the Kyodan, preparations for this conference began two years ago with the formation of a planning committee made up mainly of members of the Committee on Evangelism and the Office of Evangelism Promotion. The Kyodan General Assembly in 2000 had passed a motion stating that as it looked ahead to the 21st century, the Kyodan would emphasize youth evangelism. This conference was one aspect of the realization of that goal.The theme of the conference was taken from the words of Acts 3:6, “In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” The meaning and application of this verse was the common thread in all three of the worship services: the opening, the early morning, and the closing services.The 367 participants included members of 153 churches throughout Japan, from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south, as well as representatives involved in youth mission from the U.S., Germany, Taiwan, and Korea. Broken down by age and role, there were 45 junior high school students, 49 senior high school students, 154 young adults, 30 escorts, and 89 staff.Separate seminars were held for the various age groups, with different presenters for each one. Rev. Haga Tsutomu, president of Tokyo Union Theological Seminary, led the group for the young adults; Rev. Fukai Tomoaki, a professor at Kinjo University, led the group for senior high school students; and Rev. Shiotani Naoya, an associate professor at Aoyama Gakuin University, led the group for junior high school students.Rev. Masuda Shohei, chairperson of the planning committee, gave the sermon at the opening worship service. He called himself a man who “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rose up and walked,” and he urged everyone “to experience something similar during this conference.” As the program was conducted separately for junior high students, senior high students, and young adults, the only opportunity for all the participants to meet together was during the times of worship and praise. As more than 350An evening gathering around a camp fire
The 367 participants at the National Youth Conferencegathered together for worship, many expressed the feeling of being overwhelmed.The program for each of the groups consisted of two lectures and three or four periods of small-group discussion. In the small groups, all the participants shared what they had gotten out of each lecture and their thoughts concerning that. Through this, they deepened their mutual understanding, and as a result then, the small-group participants came to know each other.On the second day, the participants could choose to participate in one activity from among seven options: outdoor sports, inside recreation, orienteering, going for a hike, crafts, watching a movie, or dialoging with the lecturer. The program for the second night was entitled “A Time of Praise and Testimony.” The first half of the program centered on praise songs, and many remarked that they felt as though they were at a concert. This was in contrast to the second half, when they listened to a testimony by Rev. Abe Rintaro, pastor of the Higashi Wakayama Church, then spent a quiet time of prayer along the lines of the Taize Community.On the third day, all of the youth wrote a letter to themselves, which is to be sent to them a year later. The conference closed with a worship service where, following a time a joyous praise, Rev. Kobayashi Katsuya gave a sermon in which he called upon all the participants, to “rise up and walk in the name of Jesus Christ,” and then extended that call to the Kyodan and to all of Japan.It was emphasized both before and during the conference that the Kyodan had not held such an event for almost half a century. The next such event will certainly be held long before another half a century passes. (Tr. AY)—Kobayashi Nobuhito, pastorFunabashi Church, Chiba Subdistrict,Tokyo DistrictFrom Shinpo (The Kyodan Times)No. 4806