KCNA Churches:

Section 3. (Facilities and Function) A Church, displaying the Divine Reminder, shall have a Mediation Place, a place to worship the Principle Parent and Ikigami Konko Daijin, and a place to worship the mitama-spirits. The Mediation is always served by a mediator at a Mediation Place which shall be located on the right side as one faces the place to worship the Principle Parent. A church shall perform salvation, development of faith, propagation, services and other activities.

Believers / Members:

Article 1 - Believer

Section 1. (Definition) A Believer is a person who wholeheartedly believes the teachings of Ikigami Konko Daijin which were received from the Principle Parent of the Universe. A Believer practices faith through Mediation in order to receive divine blessings.

Article 2 - Member

Section 1. (Definition) A Member shall be a Believer who entrusts all ceremonial services and activities related to human life to this religion, and makes a commitment to the furtherance of the Konko faith.

Here are some facts and figures about the Ministry and the Believers of the North America.

There are thirty three (33) Registered Ministers in North America.

There are eleven (11) Churches and one Propagation Hall.
There are seven hundred and fifty (750) families and Believers on the mailing list, with a best guess of 1500-1800 believers, although the list is steadily declining every year.

Here are some common myths and beliefs about our churches.

Our Churches are financially supported by Japan or by the KCNA Office.

This is a false belief; each church is an independent entity and must depend on donation or fund raising events.

There is an abundance of Ministers in Japan and they are able to come to North America to serve at your local church.

This is also a false belief. In Japan, there is also a lack of Ministers to fulfill the duties at their local churches.

Here are some steps that are needed to actively develop our churches for the future.

We as believers need to take ownership of local church programs and not depend solely on KCNA Programs.

Programs such as Regional Seminars, Annual Conference, Summer Youth Programs, and the Faith Training Institute should be an enhancement for your own local church programs.

We as believers must speak-up to the ministry.

If we don’t have give feed back, the Ministry will presume everything must be fine. Your opinion matters in the future of your churches.

We as believers must strive for programs that are Believers/Member-driven, not Administration/Ministry-driven.

Please realize that Ministers are needed to go out in the community and network and propagate, I feel that ministers need to learn and understand the community that they reside in.

The present goal of the KCNA Administration Office is to increase attendance at all KCNA events by encouraging participation and activities at the local church level. The Office seeks to assist churches by:

Providing programming assistance and feedback for local activities.
Developing a grant program for financial support of local propagation.
Utilizing English printed materials, such as the Gorikai and Founder’s biography.

The following recommendations are from the Task Force for Needs Assessment:

These are just some of the highlights.

People will invite friends to church if given the opportunity.

Develop faith gathering meetings, or home gatherings, so ministers can regularly go to believers’ houses and meet friends. People often live far from the church, so these faith gathering meetings at members’ homes will let believers invite their friends and neighbors, and have study or discussion sessions to introduce Konko Faith in a more non-threatening way.
Start “Bring a Friend Night,” (Open House) at least once a year at the church. This would be a night when believers can invite friends to come to church, and the church can advertise in local newspapers, and post flyers in the neighborhood for the public.
Create and promote an “Invite a Friend Sunday” at least once a year at the church. Promote this activity with supporting materials like posters, slogans, awards, photos, publicity, etc. Create a KCNA-level task force to work on creating and encouraging this program at all the local churches.

Churches need to become more active.

Create activities and programs that can be picked up by churches and used by those churches that want it. They can be programs for Sunday School, Seniors, New Believers, etc. Make flexible “templates” that can be adapted by individual churches to their specific needs. Using input from believers and their friends, plan attractive and friendly activities (bowling, ballgame, or a picnic) targeted to friends, relatives and other people with an indirect connection to the church.
Create a KCNA committee to target “under active” churches and provide support by, contacting the church leaders to meet, share ideas, encourage, mentor, assist, and partner to implement at least 1 new activity per year, per church. Share ideas that work and are successful with other churches. Have a Minister’s Seminar or HOD workshop (1 day) dedicated to “Church Activities” where church representatives can openly share their experiences and ideas, and encourage each other to create more meaningful activities at their respective churches.
Educate and encourage Head Ministers of all churches so they will know about all the KCNA activities introduce those activities to their church members, help support the activities, and actively participate. Utilize the existing KCNA activities to help members learn.

Create new and expand existing educational programs for ministers and believers

Ministers to study “Konko Daijin - A Biography” more at Minister’s Seminar, as well as the new Japanese language biography. Make a five-year plan for study topics at Minister’s Seminar.
Create new educational programs for church leaders, including special “Regional FTIs” specifically targeting Shinto Sodai, Shinto-kai Presidents, board members, etc. to provide classes with special KCNA-created curriculum. Replace the current Regional Seminar program with new Regional and “portable Mini-FTI”s to provide classes to educate interested believers and ministers. These could be one-day or two-day sessions of FTI classes that could be offered at various sites throughout KCNA. Encourage those who take the classes to study more and help teach others at future sessions.
Create and implement new “Educational Workshops” at the KCNA Conference targeting specific groups and interests such as New Believers, Sunday School Teachers, Study Group Leaders, Shinto Sodai, Church Leadership, Spiritual Development, etc.
Create a handbook for people on the meaning of services, rituals, their significance, etc. It should be a quick reference book.

Future:

Where does the responsibility for the future of Konkokyo in North America lie? Is it the KCNA Office? Perhaps with the KCNA Churches? Or is it in the hands of the Congregation believers?

Of course, the future of this faith lies with all the partners doing their part with energy, commitment and mutual respect. The KCNA Office should provide leadership, the Churches can provide more leadership and direction and the Believers/Members could be more visible sharing their faith in the community. Therefore, let us work together, grow together and understand our common goal is to spread this faith with our fellow man. Let’s go live our faith here in North America.

Thank You.