On December 26, 2003, the last Monthly Service for the 166th year of the Teaching was solemnly conducted at Church Headquarters with the Shinbashira presiding as chief officiant. Referring to the activities and events held in the first year of the season leading up to the 120th Anniversary of Oyasama, such as the official visits to directly supervised churches, the Oyasama 120th Anniversary District Lectures, the westward expansion of the Sanctuary precincts, and the construction of South Right Wing 2, the Shinbashira first expressed gratitude for God the Parent’s constant providence in his Service prayer. He then said with reference to the coming second year of the activities for the 120th Anniversary of Oyasama, “We shall pull ourselves together by thinking over our resolution and reflecting upon our activities for the past year and devote ourselves to single-hearted salvation.” He also prayed for God’s blessings for further progress in the second year of the activities for the anniversary.<\/p>\n
After the performance of the Kagura Service and the Dance with Hand Movements, Honbu-in Matsutaro Komatsu delivered his sermon. He explained three main points found in the path of Oyasama’s Divine Model: revealing the truth of the creation, teaching the Service as the path of universal salvation, and aiming at the construction of the Joyous Life World. He stressed that it is important to settle these points in mind. He said, “The minds of people in the world are just like places desertificated by cutting down trees at their own convenience.” He continued to tell the followers, “We followers of the path now have to take initiative to make them fertile again.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On December 26, 2003, the last Monthly Service for the 166th year of the Teaching was solemnly conducted at Church Headquarters with the Shinbashira presiding as chief officiant. Referring to the activities and events held in the first year of the season leading up to the 120th Anniversary of Oyasama,\u2026<\/p>\n