July Newsletter
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Weekly News of the Church
STRENGTHEN THE CHURCH OFFERING is one of 5 special offerings collected each year for the United Church of Christ ministries in Hawaii and in the nation. Your support provides for the growth of new UCC ministries with leadership support and development of spiritual life for the youth and young adult ministries. Kōloa Union Church will be accepting your generous donations for this offering for the entire month of July. Please make your donation in the special envelopes provided or make a note on your check for Strengthen the Church Offering (STC). Mahalo for your donations!
SUMMER BOOK GROUP This summer’s choice for our book group is Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living, by Krista Tippet. The author is one of the preeminent voices in religion in the 21st century, having interviewed many of the great religious thinkers and leaders of our time. The group meets on Wednesday evenings at the Smith Memorial Parsonage through August 1, at 6 o’clock for dinner followed by a discussion led by Kahu Alan Akana. Please sign up so that Kahu knows how much food to prepare for dinner. Please read the second half of chapter 2 for July 11.
PICK-A-PARTY FUN-RAISER Koloa Union Church members and friends will host a variety of parties during the next few months. Hosts will choose the party theme, food selections and number of guests. Hosts will also provide the meals and pay for all expenses, and also sell tickets for a chosen amount. All of the tickets sales income will be donated to the church’s general fund. Look for the Pick-a-Party folder for available parties. If you have any questions, please contact Bonnie Kakinami.
PRAYERS & SQUARES All are welcome to participate in this ministry of making quilts and prayer squares for those members of our congregation who are experiencing a life crisis. Our next gathering is scheduled for Tuesday, July 10, at Koloa Union Church from 1 to 4 p.m. For more information, contact Angela Dressel.
WAINEKE WORK DAYS July 13 and 14. Time to clean the grounds and cabins! These are “our” cabins, belonging to the Kauai Association United Church of Christ. We, as members and friends, have access to rent and utilize these two cabins throughout the year. Our youth, members, leaders, friends have taken advantage of this beautiful site. A couple times each year we ask for volunteers to help clean the inside and outside of Waineke. If you go up on Friday, July 13, you may stay overnight and food will be provided. A few of us are driving up to help on Saturday, with breakfast and lunch provided. Please consider helping in this important and necessary maintenance. Let Kahu or Penny know if you can help and especially if you would like to carpool at 8 a.m. on the 14th.
KAUAI FLOOD RELIEF Koloa Union Church continues to reach out to our neighbors who were affected by the recent flooding on the island, especially our neighbors in Koloa. So far, we have collected over $3,000 and many items that are already being used by flood victims. We have delivered many carloads of items and gift cards to the Hardware Store in Koloa to most families in the community whose homes were damaged by the flood. Unless needs change, additional money will be used for kitchen appliance purchases and more gift cards. Those who wish to make monetary donations can write checks to “Koloa Union Church” and write “Flood Relief” in the note section. Thanks to everyone who has given so generously so far!!!
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER In order to save trees and money on increased postage costs, we are offering our monthly newsletter online for those of you who wish to read it on your computer or print it off yourself. Just contact Penny if you would like to no longer receive a paper version of the newsletter; and she will send you a notification each month as soon as the newsletter is uploaded. You can visit our website page anytime for the most current and past newsletters.
THE LATEST 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 for this past week’s news. Please note that the Pacific School of ReligionConversation on “Immigration” has been canceled. Kahu Akana is working with PSR to host another event with PSR President David Vasquez-Levy during that time period. If you like what you see, you may subscribe and get every issue of the Coconut Wireless automatically and get the very latest news hot off the press.
LECTIONARY READINGS (Old & New Testament Readings for the Week) Each week, Christians throughout the world read biblical passages from the Revised Common Lectionary, including the Old Testament, Psalms, New Testament, and Gospels. After three years, a good portion of the Bible is included and the cycle begins again. RCL passages are often read in church worship services, and Kahu Akana usually includes at least one of them on the following Sunday. This week’s readings are 2 Samuel 5:1-10; Psalm 480; 2 Corinthians 12:2-10; Mark 6:1-13.
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COMING UP. . . .
MOVIE NIGHT Friday, July 20, 6:30 p.m. Come for a hot dog dinner!! Movie: TBA. Bring your comfy lawn chairs, sleeping bags. Join us for another fun evening.
KOLOA PLANTATION DAYS OPEN HOUSE Our church will once again host an event for the annual Plantation Days. We will welcome the community to the parsonage on Monday, July 23 from 4-6 p.m. Please contact Kahu or Penny if you are willing to be a greeter, tour guide, refreshment table assistant, or if you can bring refreshments. Please invite your friends and neighbors by sharing this LINK with them.
BREAKFAST GATHERING Everyone is invited to meet for breakfast at Kalapaki Joe’s Poipu, 7:30 a.m., 4th Tuesday of every month. Our next breakfast is on July 24.
KŌLOA PLANTATION DAYS PARADE We will walk in the parade at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 28. Thanks to Peter Baldwin, we have the golf car once again for our kupuna and people who find it difficult to walk the parade route. This year’s theme is “Landmarks in Time” and the Grand Marshall will be Sueoka Store as they celebrate their 100th anniversary! Please let Kahu or Penny know if you can help decorate the cart on July 27.
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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
“Countercultural Community”
“Love your enemies.
Do good to those who hate you.
Bless those who curse you.”
(Luke 6:27, 28)
Sometimes being a follower of Jesus looks very different from the culture around us. The core message of Jesus sometimes sounds very different from the core messages of our leaders in government, media and even religion. I shared with the congregation on Sunday about a book I read shortly after its release in 1989 called Resident Aliens: A Provocative Christian Assessment of Culture and Ministry for People Who Know that Something is Wrong. The authors, Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon, explained that the Christian Church, as a countercultural community, ought to look quite different from the rest of the world around us; and our job is not to “fit in” but to “be” the people who follow the teachings and practices of Jesus. When I look at the words of Jesus, such as, “Love your enemies,” “Do good to those who hate you,” and “Bless those who curse you,” this indeed is different from how others around us act and different from the messages we sometimes here from our leaders.
Every now and then, I hear someone using the Bible, quoting Jesus, Paul and others, in order to promote an agenda that seems to go against the overall message of the Bible and the core message of Jesus, which is to love God, ourselves and our neighbors (including our enemies and the people with whom we disagree) as ourselves. This happened last month when the U.S. Attorney General and the White House Press Secretary quoted Romans 13, when asked about the policy of separating children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Attorney General quoted the Apostle Paul: “to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them….” When questioned about the same policy, the Press Secretary stated: “It is very biblical to enforce the law. That is actually repeated a number of times throughout the Bible.”
The passage referred to by both is quoted without referring to the context. Here are some of the words directly before the quoted passage:
- Let love be genuine.
- Love one another with mutual affection.
- Outdo one another in showing honor.
- Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
- Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.
- Do not claim to be wiser than you are.
- If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
- Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Here are some of the words directly after the quoted passage:
- Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
- The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
- Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
I find it disturbing that two of the most visible leaders in our country quoted a very short part of our Christian scriptures in order to perform one of the most painful actions imaginable upon children and their parents, when that particular passage is surrounded by so much love! I know that we may all disagree with each other on immigration policy. We may disagree on the means and the ends of what we want and consider good and right, but let us at least remember that when we quote any of the Scriptures, the passage is surrounded by love, love, and even more love.
And so, may we love our enemies. May we love those who disagree with us politically. May we love the families at our borders. May we do our best to love everyone.
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
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Our Kahu (Pastor) offers a weekly message in church most Sundays during the year. Click HERE to see a video of his message from this past Sunday. You may see the Koloa Union Church YouTube channel to see many of his past messages and subscribe in order be notified when a new message is posted. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to church. 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.
“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.
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