Weekly News of the Church

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Doing Justice

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Join us this Sunday in church

As we consider the ways we can make the world

A more just and compassionate place for everyone.

We will collect the Neighbors in Need Offering,

A special mission offering of the United Church of Christ

Which goes to ministries of compassion and justice

Throughout the United States.

We will celebrate Holy Communion.

And, as a special treat,

We will enjoy beautiful hula

By Kahu’s niece Ana Akana!

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Bishop Yvette Flunder

Malcolm Miner Memorial Lecture

St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church

4364 Hardy Street in Lihue

Thursday, November 2 at 7 p.m.

This free lecture will be provided by United Church of Christ Minister, the Rev. Dr. Yvette Flunder. She is Bishop of Affirming Ministries, as well as Founder and Senior Pastor of City of Refuge United Church of Christ in San Francisco. Bishop Flunder is a pastor, preacher, educator, justice advocate, renowned gospel singer and author. She founded Ark of Refuge, Inc., to provide housing, services, and training for persons affected by HIV/AIDS in the Bay Area, across the USA and in three African nations. She is a nationally recognized leader in human rights and LGBT rights.

Kauai’s own Karen Dickinson will provide soul-filled gospel music!

Contact Kahu Akana if you would like to carpool from the church parking lot at 6:15.
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NEIGHBORS IN NEED

Special Mission Offering

Sunday, November 5

The Neighbors in Need is a special mission offering of the United Church of Christ churches that supports ministries of justice and compassion throughout the United States. Grants are awarded to churches or organizations doing justice work in their communities for the Council for American Indian Ministry and for the Justice & Witness Ministries to support a variety of justice initiatives, advocacy efforts and direct service projects. Please write checks to “Koloa Union Church” with “NIN” in the note section. Please give with a generous spirit as we make the world a better place together!

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Let’s Wish Kahu Akana a Happy Birthday

By Making a Gift in His Honor!

In honor of Kahu Akana’s birthday on November 3, you are invited to give a gift in his name to the general fund of Pacific School of Religion where he serves on the Board of Trustees. Kahu is also the Chair of PSR’s Advancement Committee, which oversees the fundraising success of the school. Kahu says, “I am passionate about supporting Pacific School of Religion because it provides a theological grounding with a strong emphasis on social justice for people like me who want to serve the Church and make the world a better place.”

Please consider a gift of any size during the month of November by writing a check to Koloa Union Church with “PSR-Akana” in the note section. You may also give online at the PSR website; be sure to click under “Tribute Gift” the box “This gift is in honor, memory or support of someone,” and write “Rev. Dr. Alan Akana” in the box.

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FALL `AHA MOKUPUNI

Sunday, November 12, 3-7 p.m.

At Koloa Union Church

Koloa Union Church will host the annual fall gathering of the Kaua`i Association of the United Church of Christ. This year’s theme is “Changing Lives, Transforming the World—Together.” Young people will meet in Moore Hall and adults in the sanctuary at 3 o’clock, followed by an intergenerational worship service in the sanctuary, followed by dinner. (Note: the Kaua`i Council of the Hawaiian Council of Congregational Churches will be meeting in the sanctuary at 2 p.m.)

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CHILDREN/YOUTH CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

The children and teenagers will begin practicing in November for the Christmas Program, which they will perform in church on Sunday, December 17. Practice will begin on Sunday, November 5. Please RSVP to Tiffany Marrotte if your children are planning to participate and which practices they will attend. If your child(ren) would like to play the ukulele for the songs, Ukulele practice will start on Sunday, November 12 at 9:00 a.m.

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COCONUT WIRELESS

The Council of the Hawaii Conference of the United Church of Christ shares news on the Coconut Wireless, the regular newsletter of the HCUCC. If you would like to keep abreast on news, opportunities and events, please click HERE. If you like what you see, you may subscribe and get every issue of the Coconut Wireless automatically.

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PRAYERS & SQUARES

Contact Angela Dressel if you would like to get involved in praying for people in crisis or helping to make quilt squares for those in crisis.

 

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“Weekly News of the Church” is provided by 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!

 

Weekly News of the Church

FALL CHURCH WORK DAYS Work Day #1 is this Saturday! As we look forward to hosting the Kauai Association `Aha Mokupuni in early November, we want our church buildings and grounds to be in top shape for all our visitors to enjoy! Please come on October 7 and October 28 at 8 a.m. to do general cleaning of the building interior and weeding and yard work. We need lots of help. Bring your work gloves, clippers, weeding tools, wheelbarrows, and lots of energy!

COCONUT WIRELESS The Council of the Hawaii Conference of the United Church of Christ shares news on the Coconut Wireless, the regular newsletter of the HCUCC. If you would like to keep abreast on news, opportunities and events, please click HERE. If you like what you see, you may subscribe and get every issue of the Coconut Wireless automatically.

FREE SMOKE ALARMS Click HERE if you or a neighbor on Kauai might like a free smoke alarm installed by a volunteer from the Red Cross.

PRAYERS & SQUARES Contact Angela Dressel if you would like to get involved in praying for people in crisis or helping to make quilt squares for those in crisis.

AND COMING UP…

FALL CHILDREN AND YOUTH EVENT Koloa Union Church will host a potluck gathering in Moore Hall for children, teenagers and their families (as well as pastors, Sunday school teachers and youth leaders), on Sunday, October 22, from 4 to 7 p.m. The young people will play, sing and plan activities for the year. Click HERE for all the details. If you would like to volunteer or donate a prize, pease contact Kahu.

FALL `AHA MOKUPUNI! Koloa Union Church will host this year’s fall gathering of the Kauai Association of the United Church of Christ on Sunday afternoon and evening, November 12. Details are forthcoming. Be sure to save the date on your calendar now, as we will need a lot of volunteers to help us host the Kauai churches!

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“Weekly News of the Church” is provided by 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!

A Message from Kahu Alan Akana

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“Gratitude and Generosity”

On Sunday, we read Jesus’ parable in Matthew about the laborers in the vineyard. There were some who worked all day, others who started working around 9 a.m., others around noon, others around 3 p.m. and even some around 5 p.m. At 6 p.m., the owner of the vineyard first paid the workers who started last—and he gave them a full day’s wage. Obviously, those who worked all day expected a lot more than those who worked only an hour, but they got the exact same amount; and that amount was just enough to feed their families for one day. So those workers complained. Of course, we can resonate with them because, if we were in their shoes, we would want more than those who worked only an hour. To pay everyone the same just isn’t fair!
We can probably all think of times in our lives when life has not been fair and we have complained about it. (And, frankly, there are times when we should complain, or at least, make very clear requests, when a person or government is being unjust or greedy and thereby hurting innocent people.) But, for all the things we cannot or need not change, how do we move from complaint to generosity? It is only through gratitude that we can live generous lives. When we consider all of our blessings, they far outweigh the “unfairness” we feel.
I shared with the congregation about a car accident I was in nineteen years ago. I was on my way one morning to the church office where I worked when a man driving an uninsured truck without a driver’s license slammed into the back of my small sedan at 60 miles per hour while I was stopped at a red light (as were the other five cars in front of me). I was unconscious and suffered injuries all over my body, and spent the next 5 months in physical therapy 2-3 times a week, with the doctors and physical therapists telling me that I would have to learn to live with pain for the rest of my life. Let me just tell you that it was an easy place to feel sorry for myself and complain that life is unfair. Yet, I’ll never forget my attorney at the time telling me, “Alan, you don’t know how lucky you are to be alive. I’ve never represented someone with that kind of damage done to a car when there wasn’t a wrongful death suit. I guess someone up there still has something for you to do.”
I decided then that I would focus on my blessings rather than the “unfairness” in my life. To live each day with minimal pain and be able to spend it with people I love, to be able to see and experience beauty and grace all around me, to sense the Divine presence: these things fill me with gratitude and make me want to share with others. This is what it means to follow Jesus for me. I know I don’t do it perfectly (far from it!), but I hope we will all consider our blessings and consider how we might share them with gratitude in our hearts.
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana

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Videos of Kahu’s Sunday’s sermon are uploaded onto YouTube most weeks. Please share these videos with friends. Please feel free to “Like” any of the videos you see and share them on social media, such as Facebook, so that others will notice them. You may also subscribe to the page on YouTube; that way you can receive a notification when a new sermon is posted.
“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.