The 42nd Kyodan General Assembly was held at Hotel Metropolitan Tokyo Ikebukuro from Sept. 27 to 29, 2022. Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the assembly was postponed for two years in succession, so it had been four years since the last assembly. The theme this year was “Acts of Love Stemming from Worship — Promoting Japanese Evangelism in the Midst of Trials.”
The most important issue on the agenda was the election of new church officers: moderator, vice-moderator, and secretary (now being referred to as the “presidium”), and the other members of the Kyodan Executive Council. The result is that Rev. Ishibashi Hideo, moderator for six general assembly periods (14 years), has passed the baton to Rev. Kumoshikari Toshimi (Akita Sakura Church). Rev. Fujimori Yuki (Fujimicho Church) has succeeded Rev. Kuze Sorachi (Sapporo Hokubu Church) as vice-moderator, and Rev. Kuroda Wakao (Kochi Church) has succeeded Rev. Kumoshikari Toshimi as secretary, thus completing the Kyodan's administrative board. Also selected were the 27 (14 clergy and 13 lay) members of the executive council.
Discussions have continued over the last few years on possible changes in the Kyodan structure based on such factors as membership statistics, strategies of evangelism, and finance projections. To allow local churches to focus more on evangelism, specific proposals for revision of the bylaws addressed such matters as the number of delegates to general assembly and its organizational structure. While several related agenda items were taken up, none involved actual bylaw revisions. Reports were made on previous revisions and an action taken simply to “confirm the purposes and issues related to structural reform,” namely “evangelism promotion through reducing the financial burden of local churches and strengthening the unity of the Kyodan as a whole,” thus reflecting its present difficult situation. The issue of structural reform will continue into this new general assembly period.
Due to the two-year postponement, reports on the assembly budget and the various agencies (Board of Publications, Board of Pensions, and Buraku Liberation Center) as well as the Evangelism Fund budget, etc., all had to cover four years and then be approved. This took much more time than usual. Of particular interest was the Board of Publications' budget, due to the financial crisis it has faced in recent years; but for both the 2020 and 2021 fiscal years, it has been able to operate in the black. It was reported that the steering committee and project manager appointed by the Kyodan have been able to improve operational management and establish a way forward for the future.
Also addressed was a Board of Pensions” issue relating to retired pastors in interim pastoral positions who then are unable to receive their pension payments. Thus, revisions were sought and passed to change the Kyodan bylaws, the regulations of the Board of Pensions, and the discontinuance of the Gratuity Fund rule so that such retirees can receive at least part if not all of their pensions.
The average age of church members continues to rise, and raising up the next generation has been a problematic hurdle. So the continued decline of the Kyodan as a whole seems unavoidable despite the development of new outreach avenues and efforts by local churches to deal with the Covid 19 pandemic through internet broadcasting of services, etc.
Another great disappointment was the issue of Okinawa District declining to send delegates to the assembly, a practice that began some 20 years ago. So, the subtitle of the assembly theme, “Promoting Japanese Evangelism in the Midst of Trials,” is something we are living through. This general assembly was thus one in which the theme, “Acts of Love Stemming from Worship,” is the essence of the task before the Church, the body of Christ, as we strive to become one body with Christ as the head. (Tr. TB)
—Akiyama Toru, general secretary
教団総会報告
第42回教団総会が９月２７日から２９日に東京の池袋にあるメトロポリタン・ホテルを会場にして開かれました。コロナ・パンデミックのために２度の延長を経て、４年ぶりで、「礼拝から愛のわざへー試練の中で日本伝道の推進」を主題にしての開催でした。
今総会の最大の課題は、コロナ禍のために任期延長されていた教団三役(presidium)や常議員の選挙を行うことで、６期1４年間にわたって議長を務めた石橋秀雄牧師から雲然俊美牧師（秋田桜教会）へとバトンが渡され、副議長には久世そらち牧師（札幌北部教会）から藤盛勇紀牧師（富士見町教会）へ、書記には雲然俊美牧師より黒田若雄牧師（高知教会）が選ばれ、新しい執行部体制が確立されました。また、常議員教職14名、信徒13名が改選されました。
ここ数年来、教勢の現状や伝道対策、財政見通しに即して教団機構を改定する議論が続けられており、教団総会の議員数や教団や教区、各個教会が伝道に集中できる体制にするように、この総会で教規の改定の議案を提出する準備が進められてきましたが、この総会では関連議案数件が上程されただけで、教規変更議案は上程されず、ただこれまでの改定に関する報告がなされた上で、「機構改定の目的と課題を確認する件」のみが上程され議決されました。その目的と課題は、「各個教会の負担軽減による伝道推進、教団の全体教会としての一体性の確立」で、教団が直面している厳しい現状を反映するものとなっています。機構改定の課題は新しい総会期で引き続き担われるべき課題となりました。
この総会では、２度にわたる延期によって、本会計、出版局、年金局、部落解放センター、さらに伝道資金会計などの４年分の決算について報告、承認、決議を必要としましたので、多くの時間をそのために割くことが求められました。特に、ここ数年危機的な経営状況になっている出版局会計について多くの関心が寄せられていましたが、２０２０年度、２１年度と黒字が続き、教団をあげてのステアリング・コミティーやプロジェクト・マネージャーを中心に経営改善のための見通しが立ちつつあることが報告されました。また、年金局の関連で、隠退教師が代務者として復帰した場合に退職年金が受給が出来なくなっている現状を改善し、退職年金の一部または全部を継続して給付できるようにするために、教規の変更と年金局規定の改定、また「謝恩金規定」の廃止の議案が提出され、決議されました。
教会員の高齢化が大きく進み、次の世代を担う人々への伝道も大きな壁があり、各個教会の教勢もコロナ禍の影響もあってネットを用いての礼拝配信や、新しい伝道手段の開発も行われていますが、教団全体として低下の傾向は避けられない状況となっています。沖縄教区は２０年来教団総会に議員を送らない決議をしており、今総会も沖縄教区選出議員なしの残念な総会となりました。まさに教団は「試練の中での日本伝道の推進」を図らなければなければならない時を過ごしています。主イエス・キリストの体である教会が、主を頭として一つになり、礼拝から愛のわざへ、大きな展開が求められている、その課題が明確に現れた総会でした。
秋山徹総幹事
