Addressing people in the Japanese Christian/Catholic Church


In English, in a Christian/Catholic settings, people could address each other
with the term "brother" or "sister", and it does not signify any biological
relationship, but a spiritual relationship in Christ. In French, the same
words are used "frère"(brother) and "sœur"(sister). For a Catholic preacher,
the term "father" is also used. ("père" in French, same meaning).

I'd like to know in a Japanese Christian/Catholic Church, what are the
corresponding terms for "brother", "sister", and the catholic "father"?

P.S. I say the catholic "father" is because being a Christian myself, no one
in my church refers to the pastor as the "father." If the habits in the
Japanese churches are different, please point them out as well.




I was a missionary at a Japanese non-denominational Christian church in Osaka.
In my experience—mostly limited to my own church, though I was able to visit
several other churches, and attend a couple conferences with churches from all
over the country—people didn't refer directly _**to**_ each other as
"brothers" or "sisters" (not like I do here in America with other men in my
church), but sometimes _**about**_ each other.

### "Brother(s)"—[兄弟]{きょう・だい}

| Direct | Indirect  
---|---|---  
One person (<name>兄弟) | × Never happens - Just follow normal name conventions
(～さん, ～くん, name only, etc.) | ? _Very_ rare - Just follow normal name
conventions (～さん, ～くん, name only, etc.)  
Group of men | ○ Mostly when preaching to - 「兄弟たちよ、祈りましょう！」; although probably
not if you don't know them well  
○ Addressing your own group in a familiar way | ○ Occasionally - あの兄弟(たち)
"Those brothers"  
  
### "Sister(s)"—[姉妹]{し・まい}

| Direct | Indirect  
---|---|---  
One person (<name>姉妹) | × Never happens - Just follow normal name conventions
(～ちゃん, name only, etc.) | ? Never heard it, but I could see a man referring
respectfully to a younger woman this way, like 花子姉妹  
Group of women | △ Men might address a very close group of women that way  
× A group of women would probably never address themselves or another group
this way | △ Sometimes by men - あの姉妹(たち) "Those sisters"  
× Never by women  
  
And then you can combine them as 兄弟姉妹 to refer to a mixed group, but this
would be mostly indirectly.

* * *

As for the pastor, we would use <name>さん, <name>先生, or sometimes just 先生.
These were all used both directly and indirectly. The **term** for pastor is
[牧師]{ぼく・し}, but this would only ever be used in a high-level, or matter-of-
fact statement (うちの教会の牧師は…). You would never use 牧師 in place of 先生 when
addressing them, or referring to them by name.

* * *

Unfortunately, I have no experience with, or knowledge of Catholic terms in
Japanese, so I cannot help you on that front.




I was a missionary at a Japanese non-denominational Christian church in Osaka.
In my experience—mostly limited to my own church, though I was able to visit
several other churches, and attend a couple conferences with churches from all
over the country—people didn't refer directly _**to**_ each other as
"brothers" or "sisters" (not like I do here in America with other men in my
church), but sometimes _**about**_ each other.

### "Brother(s)"—[兄弟]{きょう・だい}

| Direct | Indirect  
---|---|---  
One person (<name>兄弟) | × Never happens - Just follow normal name conventions
(～さん, ～くん, name only, etc.) | ? _Very_ rare - Just follow normal name
conventions (～さん, ～くん, name only, etc.)  
Group of men | ○ Mostly when preaching to - 「兄弟たちよ、祈りましょう！」; although probably
not if you don't know them well  
○ Addressing your own group in a familiar way | ○ Occasionally - あの兄弟(たち)
"Those brothers"  
  
### "Sister(s)"—[姉妹]{し・まい}

| Direct | Indirect  
---|---|---  
One person (<name>姉妹) | × Never happens - Just follow normal name conventions
(～ちゃん, name only, etc.) | ? Never heard it, but I could see a man referring
respectfully to a younger woman this way, like 花子姉妹  
Group of women | △ Men might address a very close group of women that way  
× A group of women would probably never address themselves or another group
this way | △ Sometimes by men - あの姉妹(たち) "Those sisters"  
× Never by women  
  
And then you can combine them as 兄弟姉妹 to refer to a mixed group, but this
would be mostly indirectly.

* * *

As for the pastor, we would use <name>さん, <name>先生, or sometimes just 先生.
These were all used both directly and indirectly. The **term** for pastor is
[牧師]{ぼく・し}, but this would only ever be used in a high-level, or matter-of-
fact statement (うちの教会の牧師は…). You would never use 牧師 in place of 先生 when
addressing them, or referring to them by name.

* * *

Unfortunately, I have no experience with, or knowledge of Catholic terms in
Japanese, so I cannot help you on that front.

