Pastoral Network


Reimei Church is an accredited religious organization, registered with the Kyoto prefectural government. Incorporated under the Religious Foundation Law, it is required to have a board and a council. The council elects the board, which is in turn empowered to appoint council members. The director is chosen from among the members of the board. The council reviews the decisions of the board and makes recommendations to it when deemed necessary.

The director convenes and chairs board meetings and acts as the chief executive officer and presiding minister of the church. It is the director's prerogative to ordain ministers, appoint lay ministers in charge of local Johrei centers and branch churches, and initiate new members.

Reimei Church has one branch church and seven Johrei centers, most of them in the Kyoto-Osaka area, where the majority of its members reside. Small but active groups of believers carry on their ministry of healing in the surrounding prefectures, including Nara, Shiga, Fukui, Hyogo, and Tottori.

The main church is under the direct management of the presiding minister, who is assisted by several ordained ministers. The branch church and Johrei centers are each headed by a full-time lay minister. The congregation is divided into about 100 units, each supervised by a lay leader. These groups vary in size, from 20 to 200 members, and form a network whose center is the main church.

Lay leaders are in charge of pastoral work in each unit. They serve as liaison between the church and the parishioners. They hold monthly services at home, deliver the church newspaper, and are in constant touch with each family in their group.

When a unit grows to a certain size, its leader is given the title of senior lay leader. At present, there are well over 20 lay leaders in this category. They are the leadership core of the membership. They come regularly to the main church to serve as Johrei administrators for visiting members and assist the ministers in other ways.

A formal meeting of lay leaders takes place once a month for advanced training in the practice of the faith, including healing techniques. They discuss pastoral policies and compare notes with their colleagues on their proselytizing activities.

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12/16/1997 Reimei Church (revised on 04/05/98)