Local Churches

The church is a place where the Joyous Life is practiced by all members uniting their minds into one. The church is a place where the morning and evening services are performed, where daily efforts in spreading the teachings and saving others take place, and where illnesses and problems are resolved. Furthermore, it is a place where the dust of the mind is swept and where the spirited mind so desired by God the Parent is discovered. Accordingly, a church is a model for the Joyous Life that brings peace and harmony into the community by promoting spiritual growth among the people through mutual help. It is therefore a place where people lead a life of faith centered on God the Parent and help one another as fellow family members. In short, it is the center where individuals gather and the center from which individuals are sent.

Church members also conduct a monthly service on a fixed day in order to receive the truth of the Service that is performed at the Jiba. The monthly service at churches comprises the seated service--in place of the Kagura Service--and the Teodori. The seated service is performed by six performers--three males and three females--in contrast to the ten dancers of the Kagura Service. The Teodori and the musical instruments for the monthly service are identical to those performed and played at the Jiba. In such a way, communal faithful practice is carried out in ritual form by the members belonging to each church. This aspect of the church demonstrates the apex of what Tenrikyo members do for communal spiritual practice as they strive on the path to joyousness.

The Shinbashira vividly sums up the nature of the church in the following:

I should like you to be clearly aware that an ideal church--a model of the Joyous Life--is a place where people from all walks of life can gather together and yet can interact with one another joyously, thereby making others curious about how this is possible and enticing them to follow its example (Z. Nakayama 1996b, 122).

In this way, the church functions as a place for people with spirited minds to gather and, through the actual assemblage of such people, it allows others to be informed of the message.