Rakusei church is one of the most inspiring churches I’ve seen in Japan. It has young, middle-aged and older members, and lots of new Christians. A few regular attendees are non-Christians. Overall we are about 10 children and 30 adults.

One of the secrets is having a mid-week gospel choir. Ever since the film Sister Act, African-American style songs have been a hit in Japan. People search for <gospel choirs in Kyoto> on the internet and find us easily.

The other secret is that the pastor and his wife connect well with people of their age-range: they are in their late-thirties, live joyfully and give people freedom. People enjoy being around them! The pastor attends a ‘Generation X’ gathering once a month, to bounce ideas off other pastors of a similar age.

The hairdresser's tale

The church was started 39 years ago, by a German missionary called Gisela Wind. A local hairdresser was keen to study the Bible with her and became a Christian. A home meeting was started above the hair salon; the hairdressers’ parents, brothers and sisters-in-law also came to faith in Christ. They are still in the church, shining with joy from the inside as well as being well-groomed on the outside!

'I know I love Jesus and I want to serve the Lord'

After the first German missionary left, several other missionaries and a Japanese pastor have led the church. Seven years ago, Pastor Takuya Okumura took the reins. He says, ‘I do not understand how a church grows up. But I know I love Jesus and I want to serve the Lord and the church.’

Since his arrival, Pastor Okumura has baptized on average two new Christians a year. The population of the area is transient as the church is located on the train route between Kyoto and Osaka. Some older members of the church have left as the atmosphere and practice has changed so, despite the new births, the congregation size hasn’t altered recently. The number of Sunday services has increased to cater for peoples’ varying timetables, and last year a new building was erected. Its tall floodlit cross is visible from the train.

From September a contemporary-style worship service will also start. Pastor Okumura says, ‘In this service we will sing contemporary worship songs in English and sometimes in Japanese. People find it easier to connect with God when not singing in Japanese, for the modern songs at least. Young Japanese people don’t like religion; singing in Japanese sounds religious.

My aim is for people to passionately engage with God. At present the “one size fits all” service model isn’t doing that. But I worry about whether we can keep the church unified as we seek more diversity’.

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