—What about the third key area of focus, “Nurturing followers with care”?
We need to rethink the concept of nurturing and put more mind and energy into it. Right now, I think we really lack the “capacity to nurture.”
Are we not trying to nurture all Yoboku and followers in the same way? Or, are we not expecting them to play the same role in a church? For example, at a church’s monthly service, followers who do not play a role in its performance are of course welcome to come and worship. However, the question is whether there is an atmosphere in the church that makes it easy for such people to do so. It will be good if they can gradually come into contact with the teachings of the path, deepen their faith, make the practice of the faith part of their lives, and become a service performer. However, I think that our desire to have them become service performers has become too strong in some aspects.
If we have a preconceived idea of how nurturing should be or how Yoboku should be nurtured, we may end up losing sight of what is really necessary for their spiritual growth. Everyone’s situation is different. People are different for example in terms of age, gender, reasons for coming to the faith, health conditions, and whether they live near our churches or come from far away.
The most important thing is to take a personal approach to and try to understand each follower’s situation. By doing so, we can build a relationship of mutual trust, which can create a situation where they can consult with us about their problems.
—Regarding those who live far away from their churches, do you have any ideas on how we can nurture them?
Many Yoboku live far away from their churches, as people move more frequently than in the past. Even church head ministers’ children might be in such a situation. So of course, it is important for us to reach out to these people through letters, emails, and other means of communication, as well as visit them at their homes to nurture them. However, distance is not always an easy thing to deal with. One possible approach is to encourage those followers to visit any church in the area where they live and connect their hearts to God. It would be good and necessary in this day and age to use such means to help people live a life based on the faith, in which they can feel close to God.