About The Light of Eternal Agape New York Church
TLEA (The Light of Eternal Agape) is a Protestant Christian church that was established in Kokubunji City, Tokyo, in April 1984.
From the beginning, our founding senior pastor, Paul Akimoto, was told by God to live by the principle of hearing and obeying the Lord
regarding the plan for our church. TLEA was founded with Christ as the head of the Church and as the Chief Pastor. God also showed him
that daughter churches would be planted throughout the country and that we would be involved in overseas mission work.
TLEA New York Church is one of the TLEA churches, which now number over 100 in Japan and more than 25 overseas.
As Ephesians 4:11 says, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,”
we acknowledge the fivefold ministry, including apostles and prophets.
As written in 1 Corinthians 12, we believe that the nine gifts of the Spirit (tongues, healings, prophecy, etc.) are still given to the church
today, and we actively practice them.
We believe that the church is the body of Christ. When we believe in Jesus Christ and become children of God, we become part of the
universal church made up of true Christians, and at the same time, part of a local church.
We take bread and wine in Holy Communion as Christ’s body and His blood, not merely as symbols.
We do not celebrate Christmas because it is not recorded in the Bible; the birth of Christ does not correspond to the traditional
Christmas date, and Christmas has origins in pagan festivals such as the festival of the sun. However, for the purpose of evangelism,
we reach out to people using the occasion of “Christmas.”