by admin | Dec 24, 2019 | News
Christmas Eve
7:30 p.m. on December 24th
A Service of Candles and Carols
Special Mele and Hula
Christmas Fund Collection*
Christmas Day
10:30 a.m. on December 25th
Christmas Communion Service
Message: “The More Important Gifts”
Special Mele and Carols
Christmas Fund Collection*
*CHRISTMAS FUND The Christmas Fund Offering, administered by the United Church of Christ Pension Boards, provides direct financial assistance to retired and active UCC authorized ministers and lay employees and their surviving spouses, including pension and health premium supplementation, emergency assistance, and Christmas “thank you” checks. Each year, UCC congregations throughout the country collect this offering to assist faithful servants of God who are facing financial difficulties. We will collect the Christmas Fund offering on December 24 and 25. Gifts may be placed in the special offering envelopes available on those days. Checks may be made out to Koloa Union Church with “Christmas Fund” in the note section.
_______________________________
ADDITIONAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
END-OF-YEAR GIVING It has been a fantastic year for Koloa Union Church! We completed our successful capital campaign and saw growth in membership, attendance and giving. As we are currently looking at a limited cashflow as we pay our end-of-the-year bills, we invite you to help us finish the year financially strong by prayerfully considering an “over the top” end-of-year financial gift. You can make a donation on Sunday mornings or by mailing a check to the church office. In order for these gifts to be tax-deductible for the current year, they must be postmarked or given by December 31, 2019.
CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED December 25 and 26. Mele Kalikimaka!
YEAR-END BLOWOUT SALE at Alan Akana Gallery. Click HERE for details.
COCONUT WIRELESS Click HERE to see the latest issue of the Coconut Wireless (the weekly e-news from the Hawai`i Conference of the United Church of Christ).
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 Isaiah 7:10-16; Psalm 80:1-19; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-15.
__________________________________
“Weekly News of the Church” is provided by Koloa Union Church, an Open and Affirming (ONA) Congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference. Please contact the church office if you would like to have our weekly news sent directly to your inbox. Join us at 3289 Poipu Road in Koloa!
by admin | Dec 24, 2019 | Message from Kahu
“The Tender Mercy of God”
In church on Sunday, I shared about God’s love being the light in our darkness. I also read a poem by St. John of the Cross, called “The Dark Night of the Soul.” In it John describes a happy journey in the dark. It is happy because there was a light that burned in his heart that guided him to God. John also understood God as darkness, at least in part, because God is mysterious and unknowable in so many ways. Because of his comfort with the darkness, John seemed to have little fear wandering through darkness and arriving at darkness, for God (whom he called “Beloved”), though unknowable, is present in love. John didn’t seem to yearn for light outside himself because he was so aware of the light within.
Here are a couple stanza’s of John’s “Dark Night”:
In an obscure night
Fevered with love’s anxiety
(O hapless, happy plight!)
I went, none seeing me
Forth from my house, where all things quiet be
In the happy night,
In secret, when none saw me,
Nor I beheld aught,
Without light or guide,
save that which burned in my heart.
During these days when the nights are long and the days short, may the light of God burn brightly within us and the love of God guide us wherever we go.
Mele Kalikimaka and aloha nui!
Kahu
__________________________________________
“A Message from Kahu Alan Akana” is provided most weeks by Koloa Union Church, an Open & Affirming (ONA) congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference.
To see a video of Kahu Akana’s message, click HERE. 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.
You are welcome to join us on Sunday mornings! To see our Sunday morning schedule, click HERE.
Kahu Akana is also an accomplished artist! He specializes in creating vibrant watercolors of the flowers of Hawaii and hosts a Sunday afternoon reception in a gallery at his home, the Smith Memorial Parsonage. He also meets visitors by appointment. Most of the profit from the sales go for the maintenance and upkeep of the parsonage. To see a video about his art and gallery, click HERE. To see the gallery website, click HERE.
To learn more about Kahu Akana (and the rest of the staff at Koloa Union Church), click HERE.
by admin | Dec 18, 2019 | News
Fourth Sunday of Advent
10:30 a.m. on December 22nd
The Candle of Love
Message: “The Tender Mercy of God”
Special Mele and Hula
Christmas Fund Collection*
Christmas Eve
7:30 p.m. on December 24th
A Service of Candles and Carols
Special Mele and Hula
Christmas Fund Collection*
Christmas Day
10:30 a.m. on December 25th
Christmas Communion Service
Message: “The More Important Gifts”
Special Mele and Carols
Christmas Fund Collection*
*CHRISTMAS FUND The Christmas Fund Offering, administered by the United Church of Christ Pension Boards, provides direct financial assistance to retired and active UCC authorized ministers and lay employees and their surviving spouses, including pension and health premium supplementation, emergency assistance, and Christmas “thank you” checks. Each year, UCC congregations throughout the country collect this offering to assist faithful servants of God who are facing financial difficulties. We will collect the Christmas Fund offering on December 22, 24, 25. Gifts may be placed in the special offering envelopes available on those days. Checks may be made out to Koloa Union Church with “Christmas Fund” in the note section.
_______________________________
ADDITIONAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
END-OF-YEAR GIVING It has been a fantastic year for Koloa Union Church! We completed our successful capital campaign and saw growth in membership, attendance and giving. As we are currently looking at a limited cashflow as we pay our end-of-the-year bills, we invite you to help us finish the year financially strong by prayerfully considering an “over the top” end-of-year financial gift. You can make a donation on Sunday mornings or by mailing a check to the church office. In order for these gifts to be tax-deductible for the current year, they must be postmarked or given by December 31, 2019.
CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED December 25 and 26. Mele Kalikimaka!
COCONUT WIRELESS Click HERE to see the latest issue of the Coconut Wireless (the weekly e-news from the Hawai`i Conference of the United Church of Christ).
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 Isaiah 7:10-16; Psalm 80:1-19; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-15.
__________________________________
“Weekly News of the Church” is provided by Koloa Union Church, an Open and Affirming (ONA) Congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference. Please contact the church office if you would like to have our weekly news sent directly to your inbox. Join us at 3289 Poipu Road in Koloa!
by admin | Dec 11, 2019 | News
Third Sunday of Advent
“We Light the Candle of Joy”
December 15th
Children’s Christmas Program
Sunday’s worship service
will be provided by our
children and youth!
Invite your friends!
Stay for lunch!
________________________________
CHURCH COUNCIL MEETING December 15, after Aloha Hour in Kahu’s office.
CHRISTMAS EVE CANDLELIGHT SERVICE December 24, 7:30 p.m. An evening of candles and carols and a special Christmas hula. Please join us.
CHRISTMAS DAY COMMUNION SERVICE December 25 at 10:30 a.m. A service with Holy Communion and Christmas carols.
COCONUT WIRELESS Click HERE to see the latest issue of the Coconut Wireless (the weekly e-news from the Hawaii Conference of the United Church of Christ).
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 Isaiah 35:1-10; Psalm 146:5-10; Luke 1:46-55; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11.
__________________________________
“Weekly News of the Church” is provided by Koloa Union Church, an Open and Affirming (ONA) Congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference. Please contact the church office if you would like to have our weekly news sent directly to your inbox. Join us at 3289 Poipu Road in Koloa!
by admin | Dec 11, 2019 | Message from Kahu
“Nothing Will Be Impossible”
Luke 1:37
On Sunday, I talked about the two times I attended the Parliament of the World’s Religions: in Salt Lake City in 2015 and Toronto in 2018. While attending the first one, it occurred to me that I was doing something for peace, for I was gathering with people from many faith traditions from all over the world to listen to and learn from one another. I am convinced that the world would be a more peaceful place if we all listen to those who are different from us and we are willing to learn from them. In Salt Lake City, I attended the movie Nuclear Savage, which documented the testing of atomic bombs in the Marshall Islands by the United States from 1946 until the 1960’s, thus leaving some of the islands uninhabitable for the Marshallese people. After returning home, I looked up the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation online, since that was the organization that showed the movie and led a presentation and discussion afterwards. I was impressed with their mission, commitment to educating young people, as well as their list of supporters, including Jane Goodall, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Peter Yarrow and Noel (Paul) Stookey from the legendary folk group Peter, Paul and Mary. I was so impressed, in fact, that I decided to make a donation to the organization because I wanted to do something big for peace. I’m sure it was not a big donation in terms of what some of their larger gifts must have been, but it was big for me. I thought for a moment that if we all did something for peace that was big for us each year, we would make a great impact in the world.
I also shared with the congregation about four beliefs that Mary held onto that brought peace to her and to the world. Each of these beliefs is taken from Sunday’s Gospel reading from Luke 1:
- God was with her.
- She found favor with God.
- The Holy Spirit came upon her.
- Nothing will be impossible with God
Can you, like Mary, hold onto these four beliefs and thus bring more peace to yourself and to the world? What big thing might you do to bring about peace on earth?
I closed my message by reading a poem by David Krieger, the founder and president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation:
The One-Hearted
The one-hearted walk a lonely trail.
They hold the dream of peace between
the moon’s eclipse and the rising sun.
They set down their weapons, carrying
instead the spirits of their ancestors,
a collection of smooth stones.
At night, they make fires, and watch
the smoke rise into the starlit sky.
They are warriors of hope, navigating
oceans and crossing continents.
Their message is simple:
Now is the time for peace.
It always has been.
Aloha nui!
Kahu
__________________________________________
“A Message from Kahu Alan Akana” is provided most weeks by Koloa Union Church, an Open & Affirming (ONA) congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference.
To see a video of Kahu Akana’s message, click HERE. 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.
You are welcome to join us on Sunday mornings! To see our Sunday morning schedule, click HERE.
Kahu Akana is also an accomplished artist! He specializes in creating vibrant watercolors of the flowers of Hawaii and hosts a Sunday afternoon reception in a gallery at his home, the Smith Memorial Parsonage. He also meets visitors by appointment. Most of the profit from the sales go for the maintenance and upkeep of the parsonage. To see a video about his art and gallery, click HERE. To see the gallery website, click HERE.
To learn more about Kahu Akana (and the rest of the staff at Koloa Union Church), click HERE.
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