Wedding Orientation DVD
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This blog evolved out of dialogue on the internet with Christian-style Wedding Celebrants in Japan. It became evident to me early on that there is much intrigue and deception which is rife in this peculiar industry. I intend for this blog to be the place where I will collect various pieces of evidence which will help debunk unregulated and often dodgy business practices.
My intention is three-fold. Firstly, to uphold the name of Jesus Christ which is being much maligned by fake Christians. Secondly, to protect unsuspecting consumers in Japan from unscrupulous people. Thirdly, to support the humble heroes of faith who are genuinely called into Wedding Chapel ministry.
There are many misconceptions and erroneous ideas which all too often crop up. People say things like: "Who cares", "It's just Japanese Pop-Culture", "It's the same in Western countries" and so on. I beg to differ. The Church and Japanese Civil Law cares about these matters.
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To bring light to the grey areas of law would be a welcome development. If the wedding chapel experience is defined in law as a religious one, then much work must be done to ensure that the celebrants are real agents of the Church. Are there any concerned groups lobbying to fortify the law?
On the other hand, if the phenomenon is purely a cultural expression and the participants are no-more than simulating a religious ritual than this needs to be made much clearer in publicity materials from websites, posters and TV commercials. In this case a religious activities visa is not especially desirable as a humanities or entertainers visa (actors) would suffice.
The situation as it is today (and has been for years) is far from acceptable. Which way is it going to go? Are there any Type 1 and 2 agencies lobbying for the latter? It would make business sense by legitimately enabling them to hire from a much larger labour pool. Having said that; are they willing to play down the 'authenticity' of their services? What would the public opinion be about that?
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The substance of the beautiful video clip "For My Wedding Day" which features here is largely lost to the Japanese. My sincere prayer is that more and more Japanese will discover the truth of holy matrimony.
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The high profile presence of the Christian-style Wedding industry in Japan is arguably a 'shop window' of the expression of Christianity in Japan. Despite the unique opportunities it affords the Church and despite the many various anomalies in this moral maze; there has been little or no academic research into this phenomena.
Why is that?
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5 comments:
Thank you for your blog that I recently stumbled upon. I am a missionary for a main line denomination (US) serving in a major city in Japan. I do not participate in "wedding evangelism" for several reasons that I will share shortly. However, I apologize for not reading all the information posted.
The main reason that I do not participate is that Japanese church with whom I serve said that the wedding industry is wrong. Therefore, I do not participate. The church does not consider the ministry God desired evangelism. This leads me to ask, should not the wishes of the Japanese church be honored? From my experience, and have observed first hand, some have chosen to participate in the wedding business out of flattery to their ego's(and possible greed)rather than listening to their hosts. Also, I have witnessed missionairies brow beating our hosts to accepting their wedding work as appopriate evangelism.
The Japanese church, is all of us know (at this moment) is small in numbers, and has been hesitant to speak honestly to their partner missionaires from western nations. They need all the support, love and encouragement that we western missionaires can give. Therefore, out of respect and love for the hosts, I do not believe that wedding evangelism is appropriate.
In Christ...
Thank you so much for your candid comment. I am not involved in the wedding industry at all, but I am aware that there are conflicts of opinion about the validity of this activity.
I believe you are right to honour the express desires of your host church; however there are a number of Japanese churches which are involved in wedding evangelism so it might not be fair to speak in too general terms about the 'Japanese church'.
I was saddened to read about your experiences of missionaries behaving in unacceptable ways and being a poor witness. I don't know about these issues but may God have mercy and send His Spirit to heal and bring restitution.
May I ask?, why exactly does your host church object to the wedding industry?
Thank you for you comment regarding my post. First to acknowledge your point, there are a variety of Japanese churches and they do not (as in most of the world) do not agree. So it was not helpful to generalize.
To answer your question as to the points raised by my hosts:
1. At its core, the services are racist and sexist as the service leaders are by and large only white men;
2. The presider has no control as of the service;
3. The service makes a mockery of Christian worship, even if done tastefully because it is out of Christian community;
4. The service reinforces the view that to be Christian is to be "western" and that one cannot be a Christian who is Japanese.
Those four are by and large what I understand. There is a final comment that is mentioned that comes out of our theological view. How is reading a Bible lesson evangelism? How is the gospel communicated? From the perspective of the Japanese pastors this somehow elevates scripture above Jesus Christ on the cross and the ressurection (my theological Japanese is weak!).
In Christ,
Dear 'anonymous' poster
It's nice to hear you are taking such a serious view to the issue of weddings.
You mention four points:
“1. At its core, the services are racist and sexist as the service leaders are by and large only white men;”
Yes they are. The services copy the Church quite faithfully in that regard! The Church has a long established racist and sexist tradition, based on the Bible. Even today, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church conducts weddings between men and girls aged ten because the Bible states that a bride must be a virgin, and the best way to ensure that the marriage is not sinful is to marry the girls before puberty. For the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and its half million priests, that is the way it should be (even though it is against Ethiopian law).
It's taken thousands of years for Western churches to move away from those old Abrahamic ideas, although there has been strict racial segregation in American churches in living memory and there is still a dearth of female priests and bishops in the Church.
We shouldn't be surprised therefore if relatively new-comers to Christianity are confused. Yes, tolerance should be promoted in terms of race and gender, but hey! this is Japan, where the roots of racism and sexism are as bad, if not worse than, Christianity’s.
This is not America or Ethiopia; it’s Japan. And in Japan, the bottom line is that Japanese wedding customers invariably want a white male to conduct their ceremony, so that’s what the wedding companies supply.
“2. The presider has no control as of the service;”
Have you seen the Roman Catholic wedding rituals that a priest follows? A pastor at a wedding in Japan has much more flexibility. The informal nature of Japanese weddings lends itself to a much more personal approach. And it is this approach which is much more likely to reach the hearts and minds of the couples and their guests. Please do not underestimate the power of Holy Spirit in moving through these pastors to those present at weddings in Japan. It would be nice if the Church in Japan could reach so many people. Do I detect a hint of jealousy by the church?
“3. The service makes a mockery of Christian worship, even if done tastefully because it is out of Christian community;”
How does it make a mockery of Christian worship? If you are in your place of work, surrounded by non-Christians, and you start talking to them about the love of Jesus, does that make a mockery of Christian worship?
“4. The service reinforces the view that to be Christian is to be "western" and that one cannot be a Christian who is Japanese.”
How does the service reinforce “the view that to be Christian is to be "western" and that one cannot be a Christian who is Japanese.” The underlying message from Christianity is that it Jesus died for all, whatever the nationality.
My friend, please don’t take what your church says at face value. Churches have been proved to be wrong many times in the past. (I am no different, so don’t take what I say at face value. I have proved to be wrong many times in the past.) Fortunately, God is never wrong.
You said in your earlier posting that “The main reason that I do not participate is that Japanese church with whom I serve said that the wedding industry is wrong. Therefore, I do not participate.” I wonder why you asked your church about this. Did you feel a calling to do the work and felt it was prudent to check it out with your church? If God wants you to conduct weddings, then that is clearly what you should do. It doesn’t matter what the church wants. (If you are putting the church’s will above God’s will, then I’m sorry to tell you this my friend, but it means you are in a cult.)
If God wants you to promote the Gospel through the medium of weddings, then you are lucky to have such a wonderful and enjoyable vocation. If God does not call you, then of course, stay out. But be clear in your heart that it is God’s wish and not just the wish of your church leaders.
Have respect also for others whom God has called. If God calls others to do such work, we are in NO position to criticize such callings, for doing so is questioning God’s plan. Rather we should rejoice with them and support them.
George
Thank you for responding to the points raised by my church. I apologize I was not able to continue the dialogue until this point.
You raise very good issues that I did not press with my host church. I simply acknowledged their points and moved on. There is a great deal of work in the field so I leave the wedding "ministry" to others.
Finally to answer your question, I was asked to participate in the wedding ministry by other non-Japanese men when I arrived. I then asked my host church body and they intially neither said yes nor no. It was after a few months that I was able to discern their views.
The Japanese pastors with whom I work do perform weddings at their churches. And it may interest you to know that ocassionally when a wedding couple find out that I work in ministry with these pastors, they ask the pastor if I can participate. The Japanese pastors simply say, that "He is very busy."
In Christ
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