IHS Bethlehem Church is a nonprofit church. Its official information is published on ihs.okuruya.com, under the domain okuruya.com. Here we explain plainly why a nonprofit church uses a “.com” address and not a “.org.”

Our Nonprofit Nature Comes First

A domain name does not decide what an organization is. Our Articles of Incorporation do. IHS Bethlehem Church is a nonprofit religious corporation registered in the State of California. It is not organized for the private gain of any person, and its property is irrevocably dedicated to religious purposes. No money arises from our work in any form; we accept no payment, fee, reward or compensation of any kind; and the corporation does not hold, and will never hold, a corporate bank account. Our team is made up entirely of volunteers and individuals working of their own free will. Nothing on this site is sold, and there are no advertisements. All of this is true whatever letters stand at the end of our address.

What “.com” and “.org” Mean

“.com” was first created for commercial organizations, and “.org” for organizations of other kinds, including nonprofits. Today, however, neither is restricted: anyone may register either one. In Japan especially, “.com” is used very widely — by individuals, artists, schools, religious bodies and nonprofit organizations — simply as a familiar, easy-to-remember address. Seeing “.com” in Japan does not mean that a site sells something.

.org Names the Organization; .com Can Also Carry the Works

Our former address, betlemme.org, named the organization itself: the church. That was right for a site that only held our corporate documents. But our church exists for its works. What we make — KIBOJO, OKURU — Star of Mary — ChristmasFantasy, our music and our pictures — is the gift we give to the world, and we wanted our address to be able to hold the works as well as the organization that makes them.

okuruya (御来屋) means “the house of 御来 (OKURU).” The true title of our work is 来 (KURU), “to come”; 御 (O) is an honorific. What comes is the Kingdom of God, and our works exist to make its coming known. 御来屋 is the house that waits for it. A “.com” address lets the house of the works and the church that makes them stand under one roof, in one place that readers in Japan and abroad can easily find. We use “.com” for the works, never for commerce.

One Place, No Subdomains

We have moved around too much in the past, and readers have lost us when our addresses changed. We are sorry for that. Now we have gathered everything into one site: our corporate information, our mission, our writings on the Star of Bethlehem and Christmas, our observation records, and our works. The old address betlemme.org and our former sub-addresses now forward permanently (HTTP 301) to the corresponding pages here, so that no reader is left behind.

Creation Is the Monastic Life

Creation is hope. Hope is the monastic life. Therefore, creation is the monastic life. Our address is only a door; what lies behind it is a church that creates in hope, freely and without money, under the Star of Bethlehem.

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