The Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church was founded more than 75 years ago. The church members are honored to have had Ven. Kenjo Igarashi attending to their spiritual needs for 26 years and hope to have him continue to do so for years to come. So you can imagine the reaction when Ven. Kenjo Igarashi told a meeting of church members that new requirements promulgated by the Head Office of Nichiren Shu may force him to resign his position.
On Nov. 4, 2015, the Head Office of Nichiren Shu announced:
As previously announced, according to the Nichiren Shu Bylaw revisions implemented on April 1, 2015, all previous overseas missionary points administered under the district head system are now administered directly by the Head Office of Nichiren Shu and will be known as an “International Propagation Point”. In order to prevent discord between Nichiren Shu policies and international propagation point propagation, the International Section of the Nichiren Shu Head Office has set management regulations for international propagation.
The requirements for incorporation articles and directory of the board of trustees is noncontroversial. What’s troubling Ven. Kenjo Igarashi is the requirement that he, as the Kokusai Fukyoshi of the Sacramento Church, have a contract with the church’s trustees:
Exchange of a written agreement between board of trustees of the international propagation point and the appointed Kokusai Fukyoshi. When a Kokusai Fukyoshi is assigned to more than one international propagation point, agreements must be signed and exchanged by each assigned point.
Complicating this is the fact that Ven. Kenjo Igarashi travels routinely to Chicago and Los Angeles to hold scheduled services for Nichiren Shu followers.
The problem is not so much the idea of a contract but the specific nature of the document requested:
Agreement Conditions
1) Duration
2) Place of Work
3) Duties of Kokusai Fukyoshi
The phrase “An appointed head, assistant or associate Kokusai Fukyoshi must be the religious
leader” must be included in the agreement.
4) Work Hours
5) Work Breaks?
6) Holidays
7) Vacation
8) Salary
9) Salary Payment
10) Leaves of Absence?
11) Termination
12) Confidential Information
13) Agreement Renewal
14) Jurisdiction
15) Consultation
Work hours? Work Breaks? Holidays? Vacation? Ven. Kenjo Igarashi wants nothing to do with this. He became a priest to serve Nichiren Shu followers. He didn’t volunteer to participate in aragyo, a 100-day ascetic practice, five separate times in order to qualify for additional vacation time.
A footnote in the Head Office memorandum suggests the requirements for existing Kokusai Fukyoshi may be less strict:
Regarding the written agreement between the board of trustees and the appointed Kokusai Fukyoshi, please follow the recommended format of this documentation as much as possible. The Head Office understands that there are many cases in an agreement between a temple and Kokusai Fukyoushi. We think the important thing is to exchange a written agreement between the two.
The unanimous consensus of those church members in attendance Sunday was that a way should be found to allow Ven. Kenjo Igarashi to continue to serve the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church. The deadline for submitting the required documents is Jan. 30, 2016.