The last “District Lectures for Yoboku: Action and Progress,” sponsored by Church Headquarters, were held on December 23, 1999, marking a new start for further action and progress. The District Lectures were designed to impart the spirit of Instruction One to all Yoboku, thereby urging them to get to work. The District Lectures, which drew 377,997 followers, were conducted at a total of 1,942 sites, including 98 overseas sites, from September 1 through December 23.
All lecturers, who had been sent by Church Headquarters to deliver the District Lectures, gathered at the Main Sanctuary on December 25 to participate in the morning service in gratitude to God the Parent for the successful completion of the District Lectures. After the service, the Shinbashira gave words of appreciation to them. In his address, he stressed that the conclusion of the District Lectures does not mean that their tasks are all completed. He then requested each of them to continue actively engaging in nurturing Yoboku.
The evaluation meeting for the diocese officials in charge of conducting the District Lectures was held at the Home of the Parent on December 26. At the beginning of the meeting, Rev. Kazuo Nagao, chief of the Office for the District Lectures, delivered an address, in which he emphasized that this is not the end but a new start and that those who attended the District Lectures ought to be encouraged to maintain their high-spiritedness so as to allow for further progress. During the two-hour meeting, they reflected on the way the District Lectures were conducted.
In this opportune season, many districts are now organizing “post-District Lectures” programs in an attempt to promote their district activities. For instance, Mr. Kunio Fukaya, diocese official in charge of conducting the District Lectures in Saitama, expressed his desire to reinstitute a seminar program for young adults to study the teachings as well as various general subjects—a program that is designed to train those who will shoulder the path in the next generation.