Sanctifying Christ Church

The Sanctifying Christ Church (Japanese: 聖成基督教団, Seisei Kirisuto Kyōdan) is an independent Japanese church founded by Konmoto Kaoru (紺本薫) in 1948. Konmoto Kaoru was born in 1914 and converted to Christianity at the age of seventeen as a result of attending a small home Bible study meeting. He went on to attend the Shioya Seisho Gakusha, a bible school with roots in the early missionary work of Barclay Baxton (1860–1946), a low church Anglican, who served as a missionary in Kōbe and Matsue, 1890-1891. Konmoto began independent evangelistic work in the early postwar period by holding services on the street, tent revival meetings, and services in the homes of early converts. Kōbe was the center of these evangelistic efforts and became the church headquarters of the Sanctifying Christ Church. In 1952, Konmoto organized a Bible school (東洋聖書神学院) to train evangelists within the Kōbe church. Thirty individuals have prepared for ministry in the juku-style Bible school. Over the past fifty years, Konmoto and his disciples have organized eleven congregations.

Konmoto's primary concern has been to establish independent and self-supporting churches faithful to the apostolic tradition. his opinion was that while Japanese churches can learn from the experience of foreign churches and missionaries, they should not seek to copy them. Unlike some of the other indigenous Christian movements, Konmoto's writings and messages are essentially Biblical expositions and contain little or no reference to Asian religious traditions. Special emphasis is placed on the biblical teachings regarding spirit baptism and sanctification. The church observes the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper and has developed memorial services in response to the Japanese concern to show special care and respect for the deceased.

External links

• Sanctifying Christ Church homepage (Japanese)