Tenrikyo

A local church of Tenrikyo, "the Teaching of Divine Reason", founded in 1838 when Nakayama Miki, Oyasama, became the Shrine of God the Parent, who wishes all people to live the Joyous Life, helping one another. It sits under Shinto here because the Japanese state placed it under Shinto supervision and recognised it as a Shinto sect in 1908, but Tenrikyo describes itself as a religion of its own: after the war it set itself apart from Shinto, leaving the Sect Shinto federation in 1970. In America it has two mission headquarters, in Los Angeles (1934, for the mainland and Canada) and Honolulu (1954), and churches and smaller fellowships, many only a family and a handful of followers, mostly Japanese American families of three or four generations, with some converts. The head minister's family lives in the church, and the church runs every day: morning and evening services facing toward the Jiba in Tenri, the place of human origin. Its great gathering is the monthly service, the Dance with Hand Movements to the Mikagura-uta and the nine instruments, played and danced by members on a rota they practise for, so a church needs enough trained members to fill it; a sermon and prayers for the sick follow. Each church sets its own day (the game takes the third Sunday). Belonging runs up a line of parent churches, not across a town: each church has a parent church and a grand church, often in Japan, under Church Headquarters, and offerings and pilgrims go up the line (the share sent is an estimate). The committed hear the nine Besseki lectures at the Jiba and receive the Sazuke, becoming yoboku who pray for the sick; hinokishin, service done in gratitude, is everyday practice, and the church reaches out actively. The head minister is installed by Headquarters, usually a son or son-in-law succeeding, and serves with a spouse. Offerings are given in envelopes; there are no fees. Much here comes from the missions' published pages, and practice varies from church to church.

All 80 traditions · its profile in Faiths and traditions, with how to play it and what sets its faith apart; How people feel, what every factor is.

At a glance

Faith	Shinto
Its words	church, church, sanctuary; the head minister leads the service; the sermon; Sunday; the Ofudesaki
Worship	image focus, chanted, high formality (1.00 of 1); seated on floor
Music	organ discouraged; gospel organ discouraged; piano discouraged; choir discouraged; band discouraged; brass discouraged; handbells discouraged; chant expected; recorded discouraged
The room's sound	no strong preference
Its year	tenrikyo; full observance; fasts none
Leans	conservative on moral questions, neutral on economic ones
Polity	hierarchical; leaders come by appointment; property local with conditions
Leaders	one leader, bivocational, trained by course of study; marriage expected
Belonging	high commitment, none discipline, admitted by clergy
Giving	tithing taught; collected by boxes
Way of life	alcohol permitted, dress church clothes, sabbath relaxed

The week's services

Day	Time	Service	Led by	People look for it
Sunday	7:00 am	Sunday morning service (the service (otsutome))	the head minister	expected
Every day	6:00 pm	Evening service (morning or evening service, short, and plays quickly: people come 6% as often as to a main service)	the head minister	expected
Every day but Sunday	7:00 am	Morning service (morning or evening service, short, and plays quickly: people come 8% as often as to a main service)	the head minister	expected

Leader: a head minister. With none (a vacancy, or no one hired), the services are still held, but each costs everyone at it 0.10; on sabbatical a supply head minister stands in ($800 a month) for a little less. The short daily services go on whether or not anyone leads them, and move no one's satisfaction.
Lay helpers at each service: Required: 9 instrument players; Expected: 6 dancers.

Rites

The Besseki lectures (on request, +0.04 to those there, asked for 0.03 times a year by a household, 60 minutes): The nine Divine Lectures at the Besseki Lecture Hall at the Jiba in Tenri, heard over nine visits about a month apart (in English if asked for ahead), often on a pilgrimage the church leads. After the ninth the follower receives the Sazuke, the Divine Grant to pray for the sick, and becomes a yoboku: the step that marks a committed follower, and the first toward becoming a minister.
Administering the Sazuke (on request, +0.02 to those there, asked for 0.4 times a year by a household, at home (20 minutes and half an hour's journey each way)): A yoboku visits someone who is ill, at home or in hospital, and administers the Sazuke, the Divine Grant: a short prayer with set hand movements, asking God the Parent's blessing on their recovery. It is every yoboku's duty and is never paid for.

Joining

Joining: a content regular is received as a follower after about 4 weeks.
Joining age: 16.
Kinds of belonging: followers (may hold office); received by the head minister.
What it means: being received is worth +0.1 to the person, +0.05 to family there, and +0.03 to everyone else at the service. It roots them: a rooted household drifts away only 0.6 times as often, and if it does fall away, it has a 25% chance of coming home at each of its great days (at most once a month) for ten years.

Giving, and what goes up

How its people give and what else comes in, as Money explains it for every faith.

How it's given: the offering, by boxes. With no plate passed, members give a tenth less at the boxes than they would into one, and visitors give nothing at the service.
Fundraisers: only the modest ones (below).
Owed above: Offerings to the parent church, 10% of what it takes in, to the Parent church; not kept, it costs the wider body's regard.

The head minister, the staff, and who decides

How the head minister comes: sent by the Parent church, which moves them on; you can't advertise for or dismiss one, but can ask for a move.
Paid: part time, alongside other work (a bivocational leader); housed by the congregation.
Who they are: trained by a course of study (less skilled; they ask 90%); women among them (about a third); nearly all married; about one married candidate in seven comes as a couple, caring for 75 more; the spouse has a recognized part (+0.01 to everyone after each service).
Tenure: for life (retiring after 35 years); a son or daughter succeeds at once.
Ranks: Yoboku, Minister (kyoto), Head minister (kaicho); a candidate holds one by skill, and rises with the years.
Staff it can hire or name (see Staff and volunteers):
- Bivocational head minister ($22,000–$38,000; cares for 75)
- Associate head minister ($42,000–$62,000 + $15,000 benefits, full time; cares for 100 more)
- Service teacher (dance and instruments) (unpaid; from the members; leads the music (up to +0.06))
- Caretaker ($18,000–$30,000; slows the building's wear)
- Church secretary ($20,000–$35,000; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once))
- Youth director ($20,000–$40,000; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
Its boards: the church officers (advising, over everything).
Renovations: The head minister decides, advised by the church officers.
New construction: The head minister decides, then the Parent church must consent.
Who votes: no kind of belonging votes, so what would go to the members goes to the board.

Life together

What its Community screen offers it, with the dilemmas only its own faith or family meets; see The congregation in its community.

Ministries of its own: Dance and instrument lessons, Hinokishin days, Judo club.
Ministries every tradition can run that it's offered: Blood drive, Food pantry, Health clinic, Preschool, Youth group.
Shared fundraisers it may hold (only the modest ones): Bake sale, Car wash, Raffle, Rummage sale.
Tenants it can take: A Masonic lodge, A scout troop, A twelve-step group, Dance classes, Japanese cultural classes, Parties and receptions, Wedding receptions.
Auxiliaries: Women's Association.
Outreach: invitation Sunday, an open-air meeting, door to door (Community → Evangelism).
Places beyond the congregation: the Jiba.
Dilemmas of its own faith (besides those every congregation meets): The head minister's successor, The parent church asks, To the Jiba.
Dilemmas its code of life brings: A recruiter asks for the hall, Champagne at the reception.

What the building needs

required Kagura instrumentsThe monthly service is danced and played on nine instruments by members taking turns: the church keeps a full set.
required Kami altarThe church's sanctuary has its altar to God the Parent, with Oyasama's beside it.
required priests' quartersThe Tenrikyo asks every church for one.
expected Mitama altarThe souls of the church's departed are honoured at their own altar.
discouraged Drum kitA band and drum kit do not belong in this tradition's worship.
discouraged Hammond organA gospel organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
discouraged Upright pianoA piano doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
discouraged Pipe organAn organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.

What people here feel

Architectural style: Colonial brick -0.012; Modern synagogue +0.006; Gurdwara +0.012; Japanese temple +0.024; Islamic +0.03; Shinto shrine +0.03; Chinese temple +0.036; Dravidian temple +0.042; Nagara temple +0.042; Thai temple +0.042; Jain marble +0.048; Gothic +0.054.
Building fit: up to ±0.15 for everyone, the average fit of the characterful items in its worship rooms (the table below).
Acoustics: it wants a room between ringing and dry, about 2.2 seconds of reverberation: neither bare stone nor a carpeted low room. Up to ±0.05.
Seasonal decor: in its season, the kadomatsu is worth up to ±0.040 (missing it, the minus); out of season, nothing is called for.
The sermon lands by its topic and the tradition's leaning (below); the head minister's preaching adds or costs up to 0.08 more.
The daily services move no one's satisfaction: no offering, sermon, or welcome; people come one by one, the retired twice as often, those of working age half as often on a weekday from nine to five.

How each sermon lands

The topics its leader can choose from (some are only for one faith or family), and what each is worth.

Sanctity of Life+0.06
Faith & Family+0.04
Faith of Our Fathers+0.04
Resisting Temptation+0.04
A Thing Lent, a Thing Borrowed+0.015
Gratitude+0.015
Hinokishin: Daily Contribution+0.015
Hope & Comfort+0.015
Stewardship & Generosity+0.015
Sweeping the Mind's Dust+0.015
The Joyous Life+0.015
The Ofudesaki+0.015
Care for Creation-0.02
Healing for All-0.02
Welcome the Stranger-0.02
Social Justice Call-0.03
Interfaith Understanding-0.05
Reading Scripture in Context-0.05
Swords into Ploughshares-0.05
Racial Justice & Reconciliation-0.075
Radical Inclusion-0.075

Every item, for this tradition

Fit runs from −1 (jars) to +1 (just right); the building fit is the average over the characterful items in the worship rooms. An item with no character (a table, a toilet) has no fit. A rule applies wherever the item is.

Item	Fit	Rule
Seating
Box pew	+1
Meeting bench	no fit
Oak pew	no fit
Row of chairs	-1
Liturgical furniture
Columbarium niches	+1
Honden	0
Kami altar	+0.5	required The church's sanctuary has its altar to God the Parent, with Oyasama's beside it.
Lectern	no fit
Mediation seat	0
Mitama altar	+0.5	expected The souls of the church's departed are honoured at their own altar.
Offertory box	0
Pulpit	no fit
Music
Drum kit	-1	discouraged A band and drum kit do not belong in this tradition's worship.
Electronic organ	-1
Grand piano	-1
Hammond organ	-1	discouraged A gospel organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Handbell table	-1
Kagura instruments	+0.5	required The monthly service is danced and played on nine instruments by members taking turns: the church keeps a full set.
Pipe organ	0	discouraged An organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Sound system	-1
Taiko	0
Upright piano	-1	discouraged A piano doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Decor
Banner	0
Ema rack	0
Eternal flame	no fit
Great dome	+1
Memorial plaque	no fit
National flag	0
Shimenawa	0
Small dome	no fit
Stained glass window	-1
Furnishings
Alms box	no fit
Amulet counter	0
Coffee pot	no fit
Commercial coffee pot	no fit
Computer	no fit
Crib	no fit
Desk	no fit
Desk chair	no fit
Folding table	no fit
Full-length mirror	no fit
Pillar	+1
Projection screen	-1
Shoe rack	0
Vestment cabinet	+1
Wooden table	no fit
Utility
A/V rack	no fit
Camera	no fit
Cast-iron boiler	no fit
Central air conditioner	no fit
Commercial HVAC plant	no fit
Commercial stove	no fit
Congregation van	no fit
Ductless heat pump	no fit
Electric wall heater	no fit
Gas furnace	no fit
Hearing loop	no fit
Lift	no fit
Packaged heat pump	no fit
Plumbing stack	no fit
Ramp	no fit
Shuttle bus	no fit
Sink	no fit
Solar panels	no fit
Stairs	no fit
Toilet	no fit
Used school bus	no fit
Wall camera	no fit
Window air conditioner	no fit
Grounds
Evergreen tree	no fit
Flower bed	no fit
Fountain	no fit
Garden bench	no fit
Hedge	no fit
Kadomatsu	0
Kagura stage	0
Komainu	0
Playground	no fit
Purification basin	0
Shade tree	no fit
Torii	0

Sources

Tenrikyo, Wikipedia (link)
History, Tenrikyo (link)
Sect Shinto, Wikipedia (link)
Tenrikyo Church Headquarters, Wikipedia (link)
Tenrikyo Mission Headquarters in America and Canada (link)
Tenrikyo Hawaii (link)
The Service and the Sazuke, Tenrikyo (link)
Nearly 3,500 Attend Besseki Lectures in Five Days, Tenrikyo Online (link)
Hinokishin, Tenrikyo (link)
Three Day Course, Tenrikyo Online (link)