Bible-based Christian church in Sapporo★ Biblical Christ Church

THE NAME OF 'GROUP'

The meaning is a gathering of the Christians

It may be unusual to use the name 'group' as a name for a church. The following is the episodo for using that name: At the beginning of starting this church, there was no name for a while. One day, as we applied for the use of a public facility for our church event, we needed to register the name of our church as an organization. That is why we wrote this because it is a gathering of Christians in Sapporo. That is the origin of our church.

It was a quickly decided name. But we found out that there is a deep meaning in this name later. The name 'church' is 'ekklesia' in Greek. Originally this work ekklesia does not stand for a building but for a gathering of people. In that sense, a name 'group' may not be far from the original meaning.

Sapporo Christian Team

Some people may say that the name 'group' is not worthy as a name for a church, because it may not be associated with the image of responsibility or solidarity. Some may say that a church should not be a group but a team.

Concerning this theme, we consider two aspects as positive. The first thing is that there are a group of pastoral staff with pastors who run the church in a practical way. They carry the responsibilities and work together.

That means that we have core members who function as Sapporo Christian Team. There is no distinction between the core members and the others. There is nobody greater than others. In this way, we form a community.

The church without walls

The concept of having no separating walls is not only for inside the church. It is also true for relationship with those outside of church. We practice Life Place Ministry. We intend to make separation between those outside of church (tose who do not believe in God) and those who attend church. We focus on gradation like connection (not making separating walls).

If we think in such a way, the name 'group' seems suitable for representing how we are.

The Christian population is 6 %
There was a survey of public opinion by Gallap, U.S. A. in 2006. According to the survey, the population of Christians in Japan is 6%. This figure is not accurate, of course. However, it may imply one thing. Acts 5:13 says, ' Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly.' Maybe these people are among 6%. They are not seeking God to be called seekers. But they recognize that church is good. We are connected with such people.

Membership

It may seem that our frame as church is vague. But we have concept of 'membership' of our church. Those who attend church think of themselves that they belong to church, and then become members. Therefore, we do not have special procedure to become members. And everyone is free to leave.