by admin | May 26, 2016 | News
Construction Has Begun!
CAPITAL CAMPAIGN NEWS!
As you can see from the photo above, we have begun our parking lot and landscaping project! After many months of waiting for our permit to be approved, we are now able to move forward with the entire project, which is the largest one of our capital campaign.
In the meantime, we are open for business! There will likely be at least a few days when the church parking lot and buildings will be inaccessible; and we will let everyone know when that will be. We are working with the contractor on a schedule and hopefully we will be able to have church on every Sunday except June 5, when we will celebrate the 1-year anniversary of our capital campaign at the parsonage. Unless you hear otherwise, all other activities and meetings will take place as scheduled.
Here are some requests for the upcoming weeks while construction is taking place:
- Please do not cross the yellow tape or approach any construction equipment or items.
- Be especially mindful of children who are curious and may wander into a construction area.
- Although there should be plenty of parking for worship services, meetings and activities, we may need more cars to park on the side and back of Moore Hall.
We are simultaneously fixing the roof, installing a more efficient gutter system and installing our new photovoltaic system (so that most of our electricity will be provided by the sun!).
by admin | May 26, 2016 | Message from Kahu
TRINITY SUNDAY
On Sunday, I shared part of the letter that Mark Zuckerberg wrote to his newborn daughter Max in December. I found it generous and inspiring. It is rather lengthy (click here to see the letter in its entirety), but here are a few of the words toward the end:
As you begin the next generation of the Chan Zuckerberg family, we also begin the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to join people across the world to advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation. Our initial areas of focus will be personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities.
We will give 99% of our Facebook shares — currently about $45 billion — during our lives to advance this mission. We know this is a small contribution compared to all the resources and talents of those already working on these issues. But we want to do what we can, working alongside many others….
Max, we love you and feel a great responsibility to leave the world a better place for you and all children. We wish you a life filled with the same love, hope and joy you give us. We can’t wait to see what you bring to this world.
I was inspired by the openness and generosity of the letter. It called my attention to the nature of the Holy Trinity, which the theologian Miroslav Volf writes about in his book, After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity. In the book, he describes the Trinity as:
A community of mutual giving and receiving
Through his exploration of the Scriptures, Volf comes to the conclusion that the Holy Trinity is a community of 3 Entities, and the essence of their relationships is a complete openness in which they freely give and receive everything to each other.
Volf then goes onto say that this is the Church’s model for what we should strive for. Therefore, I invite you to consider how you might be more open today in order to more freely give and receive. And, when you do so, you are not only reflecting the nature of God but truly being who you are as a human being. After all, we are all created in God’s image!
Aloha nui loa!
Kahu Alan Akana
“A Message from Kahu Alan Akana” is provided most weeks by the Kahu (Pastor) of Koloa Union Church, a congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference. Join us at 3289 Poipu Road in Koloa!
by admin | May 16, 2016 | Message from Kahu
PENTECOST SUNDAY
And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. (Acts 2:6)
Sunday was Pentecost: the day the Christian Church celebrates the Holy Spirit in our midst. It is called Pentecost (the Greek word “fiftieth”) because it happens 50 days after Easter (as well as 50 days after the Jewish Passover).
I began my message on Sunday telling the story of an airplane that was circling above Melbourne, Australia, unable to land; and nobody knew what to do about it. The problem had never come up before. A large 14-year-old boy with Down Syndrome lay on the floor in the middle of the aisle next to his seat; and he refused to move. He was very scared…and physically ill from fear. He didn’t want to talk to anyone and he was too afraid to get up and sit in his seat. And because he was not in his seat, the pilot could not land the plane according to aviation regulations. The boy’s parents tried everything to get him back to his seat. The flight attendants tried everything. There was even a doctor on board; and he had no idea what to do. If the boy was small, they could have just picked him up; but he was a large teenager, and way to heavy to just pick up and set in his seat.
Eventually, the plane was going to run out of fuel and the crew had run out of options. Then one of the flight attendants came up with a rather novel idea: she asked if there was a teacher on board. Sophie Murphy answered the call and the flight attendant explained the situation. So Sophie went to the boy, assessed the situation…and then laid down in the aisle next to him—her head right next to his—and the conversation went something like this:
“Hi, I’m Sophie and I’m a teacher. What’s your name”
At first there was a pause, and then the boy told Sophie his name.
“It’s really nice to meet you. What’s your favorite book?”
Another pause. “Winnie the Pooh.”
“That’s MY favorite book too!”
She asked about his favorite characters in Winnie the Pooh, and they talked about their favorite characters for a minute…and the wonderful story of Winnie the Pooh.
“Well, I’m going to go back to my seat now. Would you like to come sit next to me.”
“Sure.”
So they went back to her seat and the one next to hers. (The person next to Sophie was asked to change seats and willingly agreed.) Sophie and the boy continued their conversation about Winnie the Pooh, and within minutes the plane began to descend and landed safely in Melbourne.
Sophie Murphy became a hero on that flight and her story was told all over Australia and now all over the world. When the plane landed and she was congratulated for saving the day, she said something like this: “Oh, I just did what any teacher would do. This is what we do every day in our jobs: we meet kids where they are at; we talk to them in their language; we connect with them as they are.”
When I heard this story, it occurred to me that it is what happened on the Day of Pentecost! The Apostles meet people where they were at; talked to them in their language; and connected with them as they were.” Upon this foundation the Christian Church was built, and at Koloa Union Church it is the foundation on which we thrive.
I hope you have a great week spreading the Spirit of Pentecost to everyone you encounter!
Aloha nui loa!
Kahu Alan Akana
“A Message from Kahu Alan Akana” is provided most weeks by the Kahu (Pastor) of Koloa Union Church, a congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference. Join us at 3289 Poipu Road in Koloa!
by admin | May 3, 2016 | Message from Kahu
WEEKLY NEWS & NEWSLETTER!
The first edition of “Koloa Union Church Weekly News” will be sent this week to everyone on our email list and those who have asked to receive weekly news from us! It will come from the email address [email protected]. It has been a few months since we have been considering how to best keep in touch with people on a weekly basis; and we have decided to go with the online marketing company Constant Contact. If you do not receive your copy in your email this week, please contact Penny Osuga at [email protected] and she will add your email address to our list.
I am really happy for this new way by which we will be able to keep in touch with people and get out the latest news and information as quickly as possible!
I also want everyone to know that our monthly newsletters are posted on this website as well. Just click on “News” at the top of this page and then click “Newsletter.”
Have a great week!
Aloha nui loa!
Kahu Alan Akana
“A Message from Kahu Alan Akana” is provided most weeks by the Kahu (Pastor) of Koloa Union Church, a congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference. Join us at 3289 Poipu Road in Koloa!
Recent Comments