I'm a missionary in Japan. The name of my mission agency is WEC International. That's supposedly Worldwide Evangelisation for Christ, but I think I have a better idea about what it stands for...
2007-08-01
Laity mobilized, part 2
More jewels unearthed during my hunt through old academic journals:
The key lesson here is that lay religious movements can thrive in contemporary Japan without an organized clergy. Organized religious denominations will continue to play their traditional functions, but the new religious groups that have grown since 1945 will prosper even without the benefit of the orthodox clergy. The danger is when one tries to mix a conservative organized religious organization with a modern mass lay movement. Their goals, world views, and practices are too different to enable a permanent marriage. Each can probably survive on its own, but bringing them together may eventually lead to trouble.
Given that a lay revolution against a conservative clergy is what a lot of missionaries here want, we need to acknowledge the possibilities of "trouble" as well.
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lathos: Going from iPod 1.x to 2.x and severely regretting it.
