First of all, I wish to thank Pastor Michio Fujiwara for his work in translating the questionnaire and for general support of my research and also Don Wright for his suggestions regarding the translation. The Church Information Service rendered invaluable assistance through their extensive database and general knowledge of the Christian movement in Japan. Kazuya Omata and Takashi Oonoki contributed greatly by deciphering and translating the handwritten Japanese responses. I am indebted to my advisor, Professor John Ellenberger, for his patience and willingness to work with me over an extended period of time. My husband, Lonnie, was a source of constant encouragement. Finally, I am grateful to the Japanese pastors who took the time to complete yet another questionnaire and especially those who were willing to speak candidly of their challenges and vision for ministry.

Table 1 - Description of Leadership Attitude Variables

The topic of this thesis is "Human Relations and Leadership in the Japanese Protestant congregation in the context of Japanese society." The focus will be how social contextualization of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has unfolded in Japan to this point in time. The specific concern here is not so much the message or the communication of it across cultures, but the community of faith formed in response to the message. It is in the localized community of faith, the congregation, that new members are taught and discipled (socialized), and through this community that new ways of living and relating can be demonstrated to a watching world.

Because the church in Japan, like the mainstream Protestant movement in the West, has come to rely heavily on the role of the pastor, special attention will be given to leadership concerns. The following questions will be addressed. What models of leadership and appropriate relationships within a group inform a Japanese pastor in understanding his or her own role? To what extent do these models come from Japanese culture, from missionaries or from the particular historical development of the Christian movement in Japan? What are the implications of the prevailing models of leadership for church growth and penetration of the Gospel into Japanese society? And finally, are there any alternative models emerging?

It is well known in mission circles that Japan has been a relatively difficult field for church growth. After over 100 years of Protestant missionary effort in the modern era, the percentage of Japanese actively affiliating themselves with Christian churches is still less than one percent. What is not so well known is that the Christian world view and the church has had an influence on Japanese society out of proportion to its size. Also, although congregations tend to be small, with Sunday worship attendance averaging 35 in 1991, they exhibit some well-established traditions in worship and organization. A certain maturity in institutional terms is also seen in the Christian movement, with a multitude of schools and seminaries, inter-church associations, Christian publishers, and mass-media broadcasters under the direction of Japanese leadership.

In discussions of the reasons for sluggish church growth, social factors are often mentioned. Many observers feel the problem should be restated as one of keeping rather than reaching people. Writing in 1979, Caldarola described the problem as follows:

Integrating people into the congregation in order to disciple them into a lifelong loyalty to Christ and his kingdom seems to be key. Those who pinpoint social dynamics of the congregation as a culprit do not all agree on their diagnosis, however. A common charge is that Japanese Christianity "conveys too much a message of individual salvation" and has not sufficiently taken into consideration the group-oriented nature of Japanese society (Piryns 1987, 548). Yet others argue that congregations do reflect the "intense, small, family like experiences" expected from social groups in Japan. As any missionary or visitor will attest, church-going is an all-day experience, with the worship service being followed by fellowship lunch, often to be followed by study groups, meetings, or literature distribution in the neighborhood. These observers would argue that it is the expectation of such an intense involvement that scares away many prospective members who already have too many social obligations (Sachs 1988).

Patterns of leadership in the congregation are also found to be problematic. Pastors are commonly said to be too "authoritarian" in their exercise of their role. According to Buss and Funaki,

This charge does not really address the question of what expectations of leadership Japanese people themselves bring to the congregation. If paternalistic leadership is actually valued in society, then this pattern may be appropriate for the church.

Yet another question is raised by the issue of contextualization. Should the Christian church in the interests of contextualization fully conform to social patterns or would it be more appropriate to constitute itself as an "alternative community" with new norms of behavior?

The assertion is often made that the church in Japan is insufficiently contextualized into Japanese culture. The Christian church is said to be a "stranger in the land" (Lee 1967). It's a place to learn English and foreign cooking and to converse with foreigners. The hymns sung are largely imported translations and "the worship services adaptations of European and American models" (Thelle 1985, 173-4). As any visitor will observe, there is much validity to this charge. However, this thesis will raise the question of whether a certain degree of contextualization in roles has actually taken place, whether deliberately or not. The distinctive patterns exhibited by congregations would seem to indicate this.

Corwin argues that a new orthodoxy has emerged in missiological circles regarding the cultural compatibility of the forms of the church. While this was a needed corrective at one time, he sees an inadequate appreciation of the need for (two-way) inter cultural contributions. So the church in Japan, in his metaphor, should be neither Japanese bonsai nor California redwood, but a "bonwood," "rooted in the supra-cultural life of Jesus Christ, but having a form shaped by the best of both Eastern and Western cultures" (Corwin 1978, 298).

The mandate for witness as an alternative community is clearly articulated in an article by Robert Ramseyer, a missionary anthropologist of the Mennonite tradition. After discussing the tyranny of a society where authorities "define in great detail what it means to be a Japanese person," Ramseyer asserts

Looking at the future in hope and expectation, still others are asking if the church would be ready for a mass movement towards Christ among Japanese. Some missionaries and church leaders in Japan see evidence of a coming "seismic shift in Japan's spiritual terrain" (Birdsall 1991, 9-10). While over 80% of the younger generation claim no religious commitment to Buddhism or Shinto in certain surveys, over 60% of them indicate "that they view Christianity as the most viable of the world's major faiths." For the entire population 35% have indicated a "positive predisposition to the Christian faith" (Birdsall 1991, 9-10). In the light of this potential future harvest, many assert the need to rethink church leadership. The issue, as stated by missionary Don Wright, is

Providing definitive solutions to current problems and future challenges is beyond the ambitions of this thesis. The intention is to identify factors which have shaped the current situation, explore the way in which some pastors in Japan see their own role, and identify emerging models for ministry in Japan. It is hoped that the endeavor will be of usefulness to the greater Christian movement in Japan.

Field research for this study was conducted primarily in the form of an attitude survey that was sent to Japanese pastors of various denominations in the Kanto region of Japan. A number of pastors and missionaries were also interviewed personally. Presentation of library and field research will proceed as follows.

To provide cultural and historical context the first chapter deals with socio-cultural factors relevant to leadership, and the second summarizes the historical development of Protestant Christianity in Japan. Factors identified in these first chapters formed the basis for developing some hypotheses about leadership in the church and thus for formulating questions for the attitude survey. The third chapter begins with a summary of the missiological literature regarding leadership and group patterns in the congregation. It will then present survey methodology and the results of attitude and demographic questions from the questionnaire. The fourth chapter offers a critique of prevailing models of church leadership discussed in terms of challenges facing the church in Japan. Results from the questionnaires' open-ended and ranked questions, and pastor's perceptions as expressed in interviews will be presented in this context. A final chapter will discuss some new trends in ministry, training and church organization that appear to have promise.

Where does this kind of inquiry fit into the discipline of missiology? While missiology is sometimes seen as limited to the study of gospel communication across cultures, it is incomplete without a consideration of the congregations which emerge in response to this proclamation. According to Johannes Verkuyl's definition of missiology,

In another definition quoted by James Scherer, in addition to the process of communicating the Christian message to non-Christians, missiology should direct itself to a study of the "organization of congregations, the incorporation of converts into those congregations, and the growth and relevance of their structures" (Scherer 1987, 512).

As far as the academic disciplines that missiology draws on for its methodology, church history, systematic theology, the social sciences and world religions are most often mentioned. This should not be considered exhaustive; as Scherer points out, disciplines such as pastoral care and Christian education also offer valid approaches. With such a welter of complementary perspectives, the normative roots, foundations and goals of missiology must be kept in sight; namely "God's glory, 'conversion of the Gentiles', planting of the church, hastening and preparing for the kingdom" (Scherer 1987, 519). This thesis, while primarily drawing on the social sciences and church history for its approach, will attempt to keep these ultimate goals as guiding principles.

Much work in leadership studies has been done in the twentieth century by the social sciences. However, little unanimity has emerged from this effort. In an unsuccessful search for the philosopher's stone of the field, research attempted to distill the "essence of leadership" but yielded very little. Also, the utility of the work for other cultures can be questioned. Conducted primarily in America, the research itself can be seen as "part and parcel of the culture of the individualistic societies" of the West (Smith and Peterson 1988, 14).

In spite of these limitations, the field does offer some useful working concepts with which to approach a study of leadership. While definitions of leadership itself still vary, the following is a practical definition with trans-cultural application. Leadership is viewed here as a kind of behavior.

A style of leadership which has been much studied is authoritarianism, the use of power and authority in dealing with subordinates. As many observers have seen this style as characteristic of Japanese leaders, including pastors, this research would seem to have relevance. An authoritarian personality style has been described as "emotionally cold, power-seeking, resistant to change, opposed to humanitarian values" (Bass 1981, 120.) Here though, we see some mismatch with the Japanese context as sensitivity to human relations is an ideal throughout society.

Certain other concepts of leadership studies seem to lack direct application to Japan, because they assume dichotomies which may be complementary in Japanese culture. For example, a continuum is established with the opposite poles being participative styles vs. directive styles of leadership. At one extreme, supervisors give directions without explanations to subordinates; at the other extreme, superior participation is minimal, and subordinates decide how the task is to be carried out (Tannenbaum and Schmidt, 1958). However, Japanese leaders are said to be very directive at times within a system that simultaneously values intensive discussion and participation.

The bias of much leadership study will have to be taken into account. However, the field does offer some value in its clarification of concepts that are often used loosely in studies of organizations. Also, in recent years many cross-cultural studies of various dimensions of leadership have been carried out, and these can indicate some productive lines of research. With the economic success of Japan in recent years, many studies of Japanese management styles in particular have been conducted and these have challenged some basic assumptions of the field.

In regards to the study of leadership in the church in particular, much less has been done from a social scientific perspective. Generally the subject is handled from within the disciplines of biblical studies or church history. Most significant for this thesis is the work of Wayne Meeks, who in his book, The First Urban Christians, considered the question of what existing models in Greco-Roman society may have been used by the first Christian churches. He viewed the Pauline congregation as belonging to the social structure he calls the small group. In formation and maintenance the congregation took models from its environment.

While the structure of the was hierarchical, the Christian movement had countervailing modes and centers of authority, including some egalitarian tendencies. Such digressions from the household model are seen in the authority exercised by church leaders over heads of households and in the sense of unity among Christians throughout the whole city, and beyond its borders.

Meeks then examines the following alternative models. The "Voluntary Association model" which flourished at this time shows some similarities to the church in its intensive face to face interaction, membership by free decision, and the role of wealthier members as benefactors. However the church diverges from the model in its exclusivistic loyalty goals, greater inclusiveness in terms of social stratification and heterogeneity (Meeks 1983, 79).

The synagogue, probably referred to as ecclesia by Greek speaking Jews, is a potential model. The church shows similarities as a closed cultic community meeting in private homes and special buildings. It also took responsibility to adjudicate internal disputes. But the church's terminology for functions and honors was different, using no honorifics for patrons of church. It included a greater, more equal role for women and a completely different membership basis (Meeks 1983, 80).

The second Century Apologists were fond of comparing Christian groups to schools. Some recent scholars such as E. A. Judge have suggested Paul founded a scholastic community using rhetorical modes. Philosophical schools were sometimes organized as religious fellowships (i.e. Pythagoreans or Epicureans). However Meeks believes that the resemblance to the congregation lies in both groups following the household/voluntary association model. "The academic/rhetorical element to Pauline groups are ancillary, not constitutive of the movement" (Meeks 1983, 81).

Meek's conclusion is that no one model captures the whole reality of the early Christian congregation. The household was the basic context within which most groups established themselves. Similarities with other models are examples of "groups solving certain problems that Christians, too, had to face" (Meeks 1983, 84).

When applied to contemporary missiology, Meek's work raises important questions as to how the community formed by the Gospel takes place in a new social context. In other words, how do early generation Christians know how to be the church and how do their leaders understand their own role? Both continuity and a quality of newness were displayed in the early church, and need to be expressed in the church becoming itself in a new context. Without some self-understanding in terms of existing models, the church would become socially unintelligible, and just as incomprehensible to newcomers as if a foreign language were being spoken. Yet to serve as a visible incarnation of the gospel of grace and freedom, there must be an alternative aspect, and an overcoming of certain social constraints and barriers.

The following chapters will attempt to highlight both the continuity of the Christian church with Japanese culture and history, and its potential to offer something new and liberating to the people of Japan.