"Japaneseness" and "Holiness"
A Report on the Conference Mission Statement

It was very clear to every church that we are called to reach people, build up the body of Christ, and proclaim the Kingdom of God by preaching, edifying, and serving the people. Our mission statement will include these general statements, but we want to create more than just a general statement. We do not want to spend excessive time and effort simply drafting a statement that can be more readily applied to other Christian organizations. We desire to formulate "our own" statement, one that is applicable to our needs.

However, how do we define our distinctiveness? Probably the best definition would be our "Japanese identity." The Conference was originally established by Japanese people for Japanese people. Over the years we have gained other people in our congregations who do not meet this criteria, yet hold a relationship to the Japanese people. However, our "Japaneseness" remains our distinctiveness. As long as the Nichigo Department forms half of the Conference our basic Japanese identity will continue to be our distinctiveness.

Another characteristic of our conference is "holiness." Even though some churches are called "Japanese Christian Church." their official name is "OMS Holiness Church of North America" followed by the local church name. Every conference church contains the word "holiness" in its name. Why are our churches called "holiness churches?" The Southern California pastors discussed methods of answering this question as noted in our mission statement published at the April and May meetings.

We studied a summary of the Wesleyan theory of sanctification through articles in the Wesley Bible. Rev. Sugimua also prepared study notes on the doctrine of sanctification in Japanese. As an aid to further discussion, we hope that his notes will be translated into English.

The difference between Wesleyan doctrine and Calvinistic theology is a big issue. If each group insists its own interpretation we may not reach a conclusion. The Southern California pastors are trying to reach an integrated conclusion by seeking "holiness" itself rather than a theological system. All pastors believe that sanctification is God's gracious work in us. Our role is to lead people to perfect maturity in Christ and demonstrate "holiness" to the world. I understand that the Southern California pastors agreed that we are seeking the best method of ministering "holiness" to our people and finding a way to place this word into the mission statement.

(June 27, 1998 at OMS Holiness General Conference)