Suspension of Building Tours

Suspension of Building Tours

　As stated in the title, building tours have been suspended for the time being. The reasons are as follows.

　Our church member volunteers who are in charge of the building tours are aging, some are recuperating at home, and some have passed away one after another, and we are in a situation of great pain. Our church building may be well known, but our reality is that we are only a very small group of people, most of whom are in their later years. Financially, we are finally operating at a loss this fiscal year, and the degree of that loss is expected to increase with each passing year. We are currently making adjustments, but the outlook is still uncertain.

　We would like to open our doors to a wider range of visitors. However, we are taking this measure because some of the church members who have been responsible for the visitation work and have been burdened with various hardships and troubles have become exhausted and are no longer able to come to the services, some have been forced to recuperate at home, and others have passed away one after another.

　We have had to deal with a variety of problems that have been called "tourism pollution," such as theft, damage, break-ins, complaints about garbage left in the neighborhood, and complaints about photography by too many visitors. There were times when some people said, "Let's stop.” However, we made the decision to continue and have barely been able to continue our tour operations. However, the accumulation of exhaustion from years of hard work has become visible, and the church has exceeded its physical limits.

　We are deeply saddened by the wishes of those who wish to visit the church. However, the situation is physically impossible, and there is nothing we can do about it. It is not that we are "closed off" or "excluded," as you have so bitterly criticized on the Internet, etc. It may be "laziness," but it is an "impossible situation" where we do not have the manpower or money to safely conduct visitation operations.

　There are many people who want to visit a church when they want to, but very few who are willing to join its membership and support it from the inside, rain or shine. Without those who support from within, not only traditional religions like ours, but also traditional performing arts and all other organizations are destined to disappear along with their culture.

　The Christian church is a religion, so faith is certainly central, but we hope that those who are interested in preserving our traditions will volunteer to become members who will support the church from within. We hope and pray that in this way our church will be able to recover and provide opportunities for visitors.

　We are also considering when to temporarily resume our visitation services, depending on the situation.

Sincerely yours.

Senior pastor of Ibaraki Kasugaoka Church (Church of the Light)

Kenichi Oishi