by admin | Sep 28, 2015 | News
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Koloa Union Church will serve lunch (and clean up) at the Hanapepe Salvation Army. We will leave the Koloa Union Church parking lot at 9:30 am. Please call the church office for JoAnne if you can help 742-6622.
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Friday, October 2, 2015
Our very own Graceleanor (“Gem”) Baird will share about her book, An Hour and a Half from Tomorrow, at 7 p.m. in the Koloa Union Church sanctuary and then sign books during a reception in Moore Hall, which will immediately follow.
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Sunday, October 4, 2015
We will celebrate our dreams for our church in the coming year, so come and share your dreams! We will also celebrate Holy Communion and bless our financial commitments to the 2016 general fund during our worship service and celebrate with an Oktoberfest lunch afterwards. Please join us at Koloa Union Church!
by admin | Sep 28, 2015 | Message from Kahu
Sea Glass
SEA GLASS AND DREAMS
On Sunday, I brought a bowl of sea glass to church and shared with the congregation that sea glass has become for me an important image of our lives. Pieces of sea glass are basically broken pieces of bottles, glasses, windows and other glass objects of all colors, shapes and sizes, that have been tossed by the waves and rubbed against the sand until they become smooth and beautiful objects. They change through the tossing and turning of the waves, and they become more desirable. In much the same way, our lives change as we are tossed and turned by the experiences in our lives over which we sometimes seem to have very little control. Yet, we can welcome those experiences and find God in the midst of them; and when we do, we too have our rough edges smoothed out and we become more beautiful.
I talked a bit about the Prophet Jeremiah and the people to whom he ministered. They had their fair share of tossing and turning! Life was pretty difficult after being hauled off by the Babylonian army to serve as virtual slaves to the Babylonians. They wondered if they would ever return to their homeland, if they would ever have their lives back again. Jeremiah reminded them that God was still with them, just like God had always been with them, just like God would always be with them…and he helped them dream of a brighter future. And that was all the reason they needed to have joy and hope for their lives:
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
I will build you up again,
Again you will take up your timbrels
and go out to dance with the joyful….
I will turn their mourning into gladness;
I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.
When times are rough and it seems like you are being tossed about like a broken piece of glass in the waves, remember that God is with you, loving you, giving you reason for joy and hope, and turning you into something even more beautiful than you already are! So dream of better days, dream of joy, dream of hope, for your life…for your family…for your church.
I hope to see you on Sunday when we will continue to focus on the beauty of sea glass…and I invite you to come and share your dreams.
Aloha nui loa!
Kahu Alan Akana
by admin | Sep 15, 2015 | News
YOUTH BAKE SALE
We are so excited to have 2 of our youth going to the Fall Youth Camp on Oahu in October. This year’s theme is “Living Our Faith.” The youth will be having a yummy bake sale this Sunday, September 20, to earn money to cover their expenses. Please help them out and enjoy some of their home-baked goodies.
CHANCEL CHOIR
The Koloa Union Church choir is back after their much deserved summer hiatus. They will begin singing during Sunday services this Sunday, September 20! Please come and enjoy the music, and consider joining our choir!
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE
Monday, September 21, 2015, 5 – 8 pm. It will begin with a potluck dinner at the Storybook Theatre Garden in Hanapepe followed by a candle light walk to the Hanapepe Soto Zen Temple’s World Kannon Peace Statue. Once there the bell will be rung to proclaim our Partnerships for Peace. We will carpool from the Koloa Union Church parking lot at 4:30. Please join us.
by admin | Sep 15, 2015 | Message from Kahu
A SEASON OF HOPE
Our theme for September and the first Sunday of October is “Hope”. This week I shared with the congregation a poem called “Lost Generation” by Jonathan Reed that I read in Diana Butler Bass’ book, Christianity after Religion. It is a poem of despair and hope…and here it is:
I am part of a lost generation
and I refuse to believe that
I can change the world
I realize this may be a shock but
“Happiness comes from within.”
is a lie, and
“Money will make me happy.”
So in 30 years I will tell my children
they are not the most important thing in my life
My employer will know that
I have my priorities straight because
work
is more important than
family
I tell you this
Once upon a time
Families stayed together
but this will not be true in my era
This is a quick fix society
Experts tell me
30 years from now, I will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of my divorce
I do not concede that
I will live in a country of my own making
In the future
Environmental destruction will be the norm
No longer can it be said that
My peers and I care about this earth
It will be evident that
My generation is apathetic and lethargic
It is foolish to presume that
There is hope.
You might be wondering why I said this is a poem of despair and hope, when it sounds like only despair at this point; but now read the final line of the poem and then read the poem in reverse, line by line:
And all of this will come true unless we choose to reverse it.
We read the same words forwards and backwards—just in a different order—and how we choose to see these words can fill us with either despair or hope. The good news is: We get to choose! Every single day, we get to choose to live with either despair or hope; and how we choose to see the world will determine the outcome of the world. I choose hope for my life and for Koloa Union Church. I invite you to join me in choosing hope and being committed to bringing love, joy and hope to this world!
You may also want to hear the poem read by a a young woman on YouTube by clicking HERE.
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
by admin | Sep 10, 2015 | Message from Kahu
FAITH AND HOPE
On Sunday, I shared with the congregation about an inspiring story I heard on NPR regarding the thousands of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa pouring into Hungary. Initially, the Hungarian government allowed the refugees to purchase train tickets to countries to the north, namely Austria and Germany, where they would be welcomed to begin a new life. After many of the refugees arrived in Hungary, the government decided to no longer allow them to board trains for the north; so the refugees decided to walk hundreds of miles to their final destinations.
The part of the story that really touched me was hearing how the Hungarian people responded: they gathered together food, blankets, shoes and clothing and brought them to the refugees. One Hungarian woman gave some of her personal belongings to a woman and looked down to see that she was wearing flip-flops. She immediately took off her shoes and gave them to the woman because she needed them for the long journey ahead.
I mentioned on Sunday that this inspiring story was one of “faith in action,” of people “rich in faith.” It also occurred to me that this is story full of hope: hope in humanity, hope for the Church, and hope for our world. During the next four Sundays, our theme in our worship services will be “A FUTURE WITH HOPE.” On October 4th, we will celebrate our hope as a church by giving members and friends the opportunity to make a financial commitment to our church’s general fund for 2016 during the worship service…and then enjoy a great time of food and fellowship at our Oktoberfest Celebration right after church.
I hope you will join us during the next four Sundays as we prepare for “A FUTURE WITH HOPE.”
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
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