Weekly News of the Church

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Capital Campaign Celebration

10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

At the Smith Memorial Parsonage

3281 Waikomo Road, Koloa

(Directions: From the church parking lot, turn right onto Poipu Rd. and make the very next left onto Waikomo; 3281 is the fifth house on the left. Please park at the church or on the street.)

Worship Service

Italian Luncheon

Games, Entertainment & Prizes

Waterslide for Children

Casual Attire

All Are Welcome!

A Message from Kahu Akana

Our Capital Campaign One-Year Anniversary

SUNDAY, JUNE 5, 2016 (10:30 A.M. to 3:00 P.M.)
Dear Members & Friends:
I am honored to host our anniversary celebration at the parsonage on Sunday! (3281 Waikomo Road) We have accomplished so much in the past year! It really is time for a celebration!!!
We will begin the day of celebration with a fun, informal and uplifting worship service. During our worship, we will enjoy hula from a local halau: Na Kupuna O Halau Ka Lei Mokihana O Le`ina`ala. Our own Kaylee Alapai will provide us with something special as well!
After the worship service, a delicious Italian lunch will be served, followed by entertainment, games, activities and prizes. There will be a large waterslide for the children. There will also be an opportunity for people to share their talents—musically and otherwise!
The dress is casual attire, and children should bring a towel and change of clothes.
Visitors are welcome!
I look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday at the parsonage!
Aloha nui!
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!

June Newsletter

Click June 2016 to see the JUNE newsletter!

 

The Newsletter is provided monthly 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

IMG_3407

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!).

 

A Message from Kahu Akana

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!