Promoting Christian Unity

"It is important to promote ecumenism abroad as well as at home"

by Tom Christoffer

Many call the United States a Christian nation. Japan is not. Of its 125 million people only 1% are Christian. Not 1% Catholic; 1% Christian! How did I find that fact out? Let me explain.

In planning our trip to Singapore to visit my wife Anne’s brother we thought that since we were flying 19 hours and our plane did stop in Tokyo why not visit another country! So we set up a visit with a host from Tokyo through the international host program SERVAS which we belong to. We found a wonderful host named Yuko Kimura who was an English teacher (helps with the language barrier) as well as a Christian. I hoped and prayed that maybe she could explain the state of Christianity in Japan as well as give us a chance to share our Christian story from Minnesota and the U.S. My prayers were answered!

Yuko belongs to a church in Tokyo which she goes to once a month because of the commute but attends a Free Methodist house church the other Sundays in her village of Machida. She was kind enough to take us to her church in Machida where we were welcomed by the twenty members of this church which was located in the living room of the pastors house. One of the members played the organ (which is in a closet) and another member (who teaches at Sophia Catholic University in Tokyo) played the guitar. Yuko stood up and tried to explain who a Pastoral Administrator is in the Catholic church. Then I was asked to say something to the members (some of them understood and spoke English). Nervously I told them that we are all Christians and we will pray for your church here in Japan, would you please also pray for us? What a privileged chance to promote international as well as denominational Christian Unity! Praise God!

As we journey through Lent into Holy Week let us continue to promote Christian Unity through our community Processions of the Cross, Ecumenical Passion Plays and other unity activities. And if by chance you are travelling don’t forget that we each can make a difference in spreading the Good News so that "all may be one" as Jesus asked.