Church News: June 3rd, 2026

by | Jun 3, 2026 | News

Watch Our Most Recent Worship Service

Watch Our Most Recent Worship Service

You can click the button below to watch a video of a recent worship service:

Watch the most recent worship service

Watch ALL of Our Worship Services

Please Share!

Our online worship services are a great way to introduce people to Koloa Union Church…and provide inspiration and hope to friends and family!

Feel free to forward this email or send the YouTube link to anyone whom you think would enjoy watching our online worship service.

Share our worship service with even more people! You can also put the link of any video of our worship services directly onto your Facebook page and thereby introducing every one of your Facebook friends to our worship services and our church!

Kauai Pride Parade and Festival

Kauai Pride Parade and Festival Saturday, June 7, 2025

Saturday, June 6, 2026

_______________________

All 4 Open & Affirming Congregations

will walk together this year!

Hanapepe UCC

Kapaa UCC

Koloa Union Church

Lihue UCC*

_______________________

Parade: 10 a.m. – 11 a.m.

(Participants meet at 9 a.m.)

Beginning at the Vidinha Stadium Parking Lot

Ending at the Historic County Building

Festival: 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Lihue: Historic County Building Lawn

Koloa Union Church will have a resource table

where we will tell others about our church

and invite them to join us!

 

 

What To Bring

Consider bringing sunscreen, water bottles, umbrellas!

Wear your KUC Pride t-shirt if you have one.

Otherwise, bright colors are great!

 

 

Please Sign Up

 

See the signup sheet at church for the following:

 

Participation in the Parade (9-11 a.m.)

Resource Table Setup (9-10 a.m.)

Volunteer for shift #1 at the table (10 a.m.-Noon)

Volunteer for shift #2 at the table (Noon-2 p.m.)

Resource Table Cleanup (2 p.m.)

*We welcome Lihue UCC as the newest congregation

to become “Open & Affirming” in the Hawaii

Conference of the United Church of Christ!

Kauai Pride Parade Tshirts

Lectionary Readings

LECTIONARY READINGS

Wednesday, June 10th 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. At the Smith Memorial Parsonage Lectio Divina is a time to silently reflect together on a repeated reading from the Bible and then share with one another about the experience (if so desired). Lectio Divina typically meets on the second Wednesday of the month. Please let Kahu or Karen Johnson know if you plan to attend.

Youth Gatherings

Youth: Please RSVP to Aunty Tiffany by the previous Wednesday if you plan to attend!

Adult Volunteers: Please consider volunteering your home, sharing your expertise in a presentation, or providing a dish or two for a meal.

Yard Maintenance

Join Julia Every Other Monday!

Julia Liua recently told Kahu that she would like to volunteer regular time to make the church grounds look as welcoming and inviting as possible!

Julia will be at the church every other Monday, from 9-11 a.m., to tackle whatever yard work is needed. She started Monday, April 6 and plans to be at the church April 20, May 4, 18 and so on.

Please join her whenever you have time. Bring work gloves and yard tools, especially large and small clippers. Contact Julia at (650) 207-4353 and/or the church office if you are able to help.

You may have noticed that the berm which separates the church parking lot from Poipu Road has recently been cleared of overgrown bushes and weeds. In the coming weeks, we will be repairing the lighting and irrigation, and also planting ground cover and plants.

We will keep you posted on progress and on specific help that might be needed!

Movie Night For Adults

The book of Joy

Movie Night for Adults Adults and teenagers are welcome! Friends, neighbors and relatives are also welcome!

Ohana Move Night

Family Ohana Movie Night

People of all ages (children & adults) are invited to join us for a fun movie! See Tiffany Marrotte for details

June Aloha Hour + Father’s Day Lunch

Aloha Hour

Sunday, June 21

Following the Worship Service We are combining June Aloha Hour with Father’s Day lunch celebrating both on Sunday, June 21. Ladies, please see the signup sheet on the bulletin board as we want to honor the men in our lives, including our dads, uncles, grandpas, and father figures—with lots of love and lots of food.

We usually enjoy Aloha Hour right after the worship service on the first Sunday of each month. If there is more interest (and volunteers!), we can have Aloha Hour more often. Please check in with Penny Osuga, our Aloha Hour chairperson, if you have any questions or would like to volunteer.

Everyone is welcome, whether or not you are able to bring food!

Church Breakfast

Tuesday, June 23rd

Breakfast in Koloa Village! Break+Feast Upstairs 5460 Koloa Road Please sign up. Because we make reservations, we need a definite head count. You may place your order ahead of time. Identify yourself as part of the Koloa Union Church group.

Join us on the 4th Tuesday of the month for delicious food and a fun time getting to know others from Koloa Union Church! Location to be determined each month

Alan Akana Gallery

Summer book club

Wednesdays, July 1 – August 5 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. Smith Memorial Parsonage “The Tears of Things” by Richard Rohr Dinner will be served at 6 o’clock. Book discussion will begin after dinner. Please sign up on the church bulletin board. Please let Kahu know if you can help with a meal. Contact the church office or Tiffany for your copy of the book for $15. Or purchase your book on Amazon.

Prayers and Squares

Kauai Quilting Class Prayer Meeting Koloa

Prayers and Squares – Tuesday, July 7th, 2026 10:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M.

Prayers & Squares continues to meet in Moore Hall from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month, where we spend most of our time promoting prayer by creating hand-tied quilts. Volunteers with all ranges of quilting experience may join for prayer, fellowship, stitching, and learning about quilting. The motto: “It’s not about the quilt; it’s all about the prayers.” If you or someone in your ohana are in need of a tangible representation of prayer, please contact Debbie Gunning to request a quilt.

In the last half of 2025, through the generosity of time and skills, Dan Giovanni and Michael Horning built a Prayers & Squares closet in Moore Hall. In January, the sewing team moved their sewing machines, fabric, quilts and supplies into the new closet. We also thank those who gave financial help for this project. Prayer quilts are more than blankets. They are the visible, tangible, physical evidence of faith: faith in God, faith in love, faith in prayer. Once a request for a quilt is received, the quilt is blessed with a prayer as a knot is tied by Kahu Alan; additional prayers knots are tied by the congregation. The finished quilt is then presented to the person needing our prayers.

Give the Gift of Stock

“The Hawaii Conference Foundation is dedicated to promoting the interests and welfare of the Hawaii Conference of the United Church of Christ, its member churches and affiliates, continuing the first Christian work started in Hawaii in 1820.”

  • Did you know that Kahu Akana serves on the Board of Directors of the Hawaii Conference Foundation?
  • Did you know that Koloa Union Church has an account with the Hawai`i Conference Foundation?
  • Did you know that you can give a gift of stock to Koloa Union Church by placing it in the church’s account with the Hawaii Conference Foundation?

One of the many benefits of having an account with the Hawaii Conference Foundation is its ability to receive stock, which can* provide great financial benefits to both the donor and our church. The Foundation sells the stock and places the money right into our church account. Our church can then either keep the money in our account while it earns income or else pull it out at any time to use according to the will of our Church Council and Congregation.

If you are interested in giving stock to Koloa Union Church, please see Penny Osuga in the church office to request the “Information for Stock Donations” form, which contains all of the information for you to provide to your stockholder.

Mahalo for ALL of the ways that YOU give to Koloa Union Church!

*Please consult with your accountant, tax preparer, wealth manager, or other professional, to consider the benefits and risks of giving stock.

Lectionary Readings

LECTIONARY READINGS Weekly Readings from the Bible

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 reading each Sunday.

Readings for June 7: Genesis 12:1-9; Psalm 33:1-12; Hosea 5:15-6:6; Psalm 50:7-15; Romans 4:13-25; Matthew 9:9-26

Readings for June 14: Genesis 18:1-15; Genesis 21:1-7; Psalm 116:1-19; Exodus 19:2-9; Psalm 100; Romans 5:1-8; Matthew 9:35-10:8 (9-23)

Readings for June 21: Genesis 21:8-21; Psalm 86:1-17; Jeremiah 20:7-13; Psalm 69:7-18; Romans 6:1-11; Matthew 10:24-39

Readings for June 28: Genesis 22:1-14; Psalm 13; Jeremiah 28:5-9; Psalm 89:1-18; Romans 6:12-23; Matthew 10:40-42

Readings for July 5: Genesis 24:34-67; Psalm 45:10-17; Song of Solomon 2:8-13; Zechariah 9:9-12; Psalm 145:8-14; Romans 7:15-26; Matthew 11:16-30

Help us with the newsletter!

The KUC Newsletter is how we stay in touch! We send out our Newsletter on a monthly basis in order to keep everyone updated on what is going on at Koloa Union Church.

Be sure to see the pictures and images! If you don’t see any photographs and images by now (like a picture of our church directly above), you are missing out! You can usually fix this issue by clicking “View images” (usually at the very top of the email) in order to see the great photos and images throughout the Newsletter!

Be sure to see ALL of the news! You may not be seeing all of the KUC Newsletter! Some email servers “clip” the message in order to save storage space, so be sure to click on “View entire message” if it appears (usually at the bottom of the email). Otherwise, you’ll be missing out on someof the news!

Add to the KUC Newsletter! Scroll to the bottom of this email to learn how to add any announcements to the Newsletter or add an email to receive future editions! The next edition of the Newsletter will be April 9. Deadline for articles is April 6 Early submissions are greatly appreciated!

A Message From Kahu: June 3rd, 2026

by | Jun 3, 2026 | Message from Kahu

The Isoda Room

A Message from Our Kahu

“The Isoda Room”

When James and Melicent Smith moved onto the mission property in Koloa in 1842, they lived in a small house with a roof thatched with grass. They were surrounded by some 25 acres of land, previously given to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (A.B.C.F.M.) by Kaikioewa, the Governor of Kauai. The parcel stretched from Waikomo Road to Koloa Road, and from Poipu Road to Weliweli Road. James listed on his mission report in 1850 that the land was worth $250 and consisted of “about 25 acres”. (It was actually larger.) There were few trees, and no tall ones like the ones today, not many flowering plants, and the population of Koloa was almost entirely populated by the indigenous people of Hawaii nei.

In the 1850’s, the A.B.C.F.M. withdrew from Hawaii once the board considered that their mission here was accomplished. As compensation to the missionaries who remained, the board turned over much of its land to them, which seemed like fair compensation since the board would no longer be supporting the missionaries financially. Frankly, some of the missionaries could no longer support their families and moved back to the United States.

However, James Smith was not only a preacher (ordained in 1854 in Koloa), but also the only western-trained medical doctor for all of Kauai and Niihau. Melicent not only kept house (eventually, a much larger one) and raised nine children (seven to adulthood). She also founded and ran Koloa Boarding School for Girls, and taught Bible study and sewing classes for Hawaiian women. The couple also found time to garden and plant trees on their property, including an orchard, which extended from the front yard of the current parsonage to Poipu Road. For over a century, their children and descendants lived on and visited the property, and many are buried in the Smith-Waterhouse Cemetery adjacent to the parsonage property.

The family gave the parsonage and the acre of land that it sits on to Koloa Union Church in 1928 in order for its pastors to have a comfortable place to live while serving the church. For 98 years pastors and their families from all over the United States and abroad have enjoyed the Smith Memorial Parsonage—including another Smith family who were missionaries in China during the early years of World War II.

The parsonage has been my home for over twelve years now. For nine of those years I have sold my watercolors in order to fund projects at the parsonage. Many of you reading these words have also supported Koloa Union Church, its pastors and their families with both physical and financial support. I am deeply grateful for your generosity! As the gallery has now winded down, I know that the support of the Smith Memorial Parsonage will continue. For those of you who wish to make a financial gift in the future, please write “parsonage fund” on the note section of your check or in the comment box when giving online. We will also have greeting cards at church for a donation of $5, with the proceeds going to the parsonage fund.

I looked out my dining room yesterday and saw a brilliant rainbow. When I walked outside to see it, there were actually two rainbows, and they both rested on the parsonage (photo above). I was reminded of all my blessings since living in this beautiful and comfortable home—and feeling grateful for all of you!

 

Aloha Nui Loa!
Kahu