Blessed with pleasant weather at the Home of the Parent, the March Monthly Service of Tenrikyo Church Headquarters was performed on the 26th in the Main Sanctuary with the Shinbashira presiding as chief officiant.
In the Service prayer, the Shinbashira first expressed his gratitude for God’s guidance, which had enabled all sessions of the Seminar for Successors to be completed without mishap. Then he went on to say, “Having taken a fresh look at the current situation of the path, we Service performers as well as church head ministers and Yoboku intend to advance steadily the work of single-hearted salvation throughout the world without slackening our efforts. We are also determined to do our utmost to nurture human resources who will carry the future of the path, including more than 20,000 young followers of the path who attended the seminar.”
The prayer was followed by the joyous performance of the Kagura Service and the Dance with Hand Movements.
After the Service performance, Honbu-in Michikazu Takahashi took the podium to deliver the sermon. Rev. Takahashi began by quoting from the Shinbashira’s sermon at the Spring Grand Service. He then shared his thoughts on the spirit of unity of mind, which is indispensable for implementing the Joyous Life. He said that we begin to see a manifestation of our unity of mind when we devote ourselves to helping people and society, implement mutual help, allow our mind to become spirited, and help others be spirited, while making full use of the qualities and virtues that each one of us is endowed with.