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A Message From Kahu: February 14th, 2025

by admin | Feb 14, 2025 | Message from Kahu

A Message From Our Kahu

“Growing Together in Love“

At our Annual Congregational meeting on February 2, we voted on a new vision statement for our church, which will help us focus on our most important goals during the next three years. An important part of our vision is growth. There are many ways which churches grow: numbers of members, numbers of participants, opportunities for faith formation and education, ministries to the community, and more. I invite you to think about the ways YOU can help our church grow.

In over 40 years of congregational ministry and consulting communities of faith, I’ve noticed that churches are either growing or shrinking. One thing is for certain: they are constantly changing! My hope is that our changes will always be in line with God’s plans for us and for the world—where compassion, peace and justice will be part of all of our decisions.

Most importantly, may we grow together in love. May love guide our decisions. May love guide our actions. May love guide our ministry.

Aloha Nui Loa!
Kahu

Church News: January 8th, 2025

by admin | Jan 8, 2025 | 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!

February 2nd Events

The Annual Meeting*

The congregation will meet on Sunday, February 2, immediately after the worship service for the Annual Meeting of the Congregation. We ask all members to attend in order to have a voting quorum.

Some of the items on our agenda:

Vote for Officers of the church, Council Members, Deacons and Committee Chairs
Review and approve our budget for 2025
Receive reports from Kahu Akana and other church leaders
Receive our updated Church Directory
Hear about plans for 2025
A time for questions and answers

The Blessing of the Kitchen

As soon as we are done with the business of the church, we will gather in and around the kitchen as Kahu leads us in a blessing for our brand new church kitchen and a blessing over the food. Mahalo nui loa to everyone who contributed towards the kitchen fund: you made our kitchen possible!

Aloha Hour (We anticipate completion of kitchen)

Once the kitchen has been blessed, we hope to celebrate our first “Aloha Hour” meal with the new kitchen. We plan to have tables set up in Moore Hall and on the patio. Join us for delicious food and heartfelt fellowship!

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*NOTES
Committee chairpersons are reminded to submit your annual reports to the office by January 12.

We are offering an electronic “annual report” and “church directory.” Please let office know if you would prefer digital copies.

Christian Education Director

The Church Council voted at their December meeting to approve a contract with Tiffany Marrotte for the newly created position of Christina Education Director. One of the ideas that was introduced at the Church Leadership Retreat in September was to expand Tiffany’s role from supporting only middle and high school youth ministry to supporting Christian Education for all ages.

Tiffany will now work with teams of volunteers to provide educational programs for all ages, including children’s Sunday school and activities, a comprehensive youth ministry (to include regular educational, social, spiritual and outreach programs) and adult education (to include Bible study, book group, lectio divina and/or other opportunities where there is interest). Volunteers are needed! If you have any interest in one or more of these groups, please contact Tiffany.

Kauai Association

Meeting and Reception Tuesday, January 28 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Religion Scholar to Speak on “Christian Nationalism” at Koloa Union Church

The Rev. Dr. David Vásquez-Levy will speak on the topic “Faith-Based Resistance to the Rise of Christian Nationalism” at the January meeting of the Kaua`i Association of the United Church of Christ. Christian nationalism, and the ideologies that have fueled it from the very founding of our nation, have left a centuries-long trail of devastation that continues to this day. Through an alliance with White supremacy, it has served as a justification for many of our country’s sins: the genocide and dispossession of Native peoples; slavery and racism; the targeting of those who are historically marginalized and the physical and political exclusion of migrants in this country. Because extremist Christian rhetoric is behind much of the leadership, financing, and rhetoric attacking equality and civil rights today, many progressive social movements have despaired over the role of religion in public life. But ceding the power of religious narratives to extremists can have serious consequences. Join us for a conversation on the need to reclaim the religious narrative from this kind of extremism.

Dr. Vásquez-Levy is the President of Pacific School of Religion (PSR) in Berkeley, California, a progressive Christian seminary, graduate school, and center for social justice that prepares spiritually rooted leaders to create a world where all can thrive. A committed pastor, a nationally recognized higher education and immigration leader, and a sought after speaker, Vásquez-Levy leads at the intersection of faith, higher education, and social change. Dr. Vásquez-Levy’s talk will be followed by a time for questions and answers, as well as a brief presentation of upcoming courses in Theological Education in Leadership offered in Hawai`i by PSR.

The evening will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, at Kōloa Union Church, located at 3289 Poipu Road in Kōloa. A reception of hors d’oeuvres and drinks will follow the presentation.

The public is invited! Please invite family, friends and neighbors who might be interested in the presentation.

Volunteers are needed! Please contact Penny Osuga at the church office if you can help with setting up, providing hors d’oeuvres and drinks, serving, or cleaning up.

Lectio Divina Holy Ready

Wednesday, January 8 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. —Contact Karen for location— Join Karen Johnson as she leads the group through quiet reflection of the Scriptures. Attendees have the option of sharing what they experienced with the rest of the group.

Youth News

Youth Gathering For Middle School & High School Youth

Sunday, January 12 4:45 – 7:00 p.m. – Koloa Union church

Sunday, January 26 4:45 – 7:00 p.m. – Koloa Union Church

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

Adult Volunteers: Please consider volunteering your home or providing a dish or two for a meal.

Centering Prayer

Youth Gathering Event Koloa Union Church

Pizza + Games = Fun

Church Breakfast

Church Breakfast Tuesday, January 28 8:00 – 9:30 a.m.

Join us for breakfast in Koloa Village! Break + Feast Koloa Village* 5460 Koloa Road RSVP on the sign-up sheet or by contacting the church office 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 each month for delicious food and a fun time getting to know others from Koloa Union Church! Location each month to be determined. Please RSVP by signing up on the church bulletin board or contacting the church office.

Prayers and Squares

Kauai Quilting Class Prayer Meeting Koloa

Prayers and Squares – Tuesday, February 4, 2025 10:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M.

Prayers & Squares will meet on Tuesday, February 4, in Moore Hall from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. This is a ministry promoting prayer using hand-tied quilts. Volunteers with all ranges of quilting experience may join them for prayer, fellowship, stitching, and learning about quilting. The motto: “It’s not about the quilt; it’s all about the prayers.” The group continues creating prayer quilts to be distributed at Wilcox Hospital.

If you or someone in your ohana are in need of a tangible representation of prayer, please contact Debbie Gunning to request a quilt.

Lectionary Readings

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 December 8: Baruch 5:1-9; Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 1:68-79; Philippians 1:3-11

Readings for January 12: Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-22

Readings for January 19: Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 36:5-10; 1 Corinthains 12:1-11; John 2:1-11

Readings for February 2: Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 71:1-6; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Luke 4:21-30

Readings for February 9: Isaiah 6:1-13; Psalm 138; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11

A Message From Kahu: January 8th, 2025

by admin | Jan 8, 2025 | Message from Kahu

A Message From Our Kahu

“A New Year, A New Vision”

2024 has been a great year in the life of our church, and I am anticipating 2025 to be even better! When I think of all of the lives we have touched and all of the projects we have accomplished last year, I am full of gratitude for all of the members and friends of the church. So many people have been blessed by our worship services, our prayers (and prayer quilts!), our compassionate outreach to people who are struggling financially, and our welcoming fellowship. We have such a great group of young people who are active in our worship services and our church’s outreach. We have built a modern (and larger!) kitchen, have fully restored the east wall of the sanctuary by replacing all of the windows and wooden structure around them, and have built a sound-proof wall between Moore Hall and the Isoda Room (my office and the Sunday school classroom).

Most of you have seen our new vision for the next three years, which we will adopt at our Annual Meeting on February 2. Part of that vision is to enhance Christian Education for all ages, and the Church Council has already expanded Tiffany Marrotte’s job description from Youth Director to Christian Education Director. This is a very important decision as we consider the many ways that we learn and grow in our faith through every phase of life. I know that Tiffany is creating a survey specifically to hear from the adults of the church about your needs and desires in this area. Please let Tiffany know your thoughts.

Our first Aloha Hour meal with our new kitchen will be (hopefully) on Sunday, February 2, after the Annual Meeting and the blessing of the kitchen. At this point we plan to have an Aloha Hour meal once a month. If there is interest (and volunteers!) we can do this more often.

Another significant part of our vision is to attract more people. We know we have a wonderful church community and inspiring worship services, and so we want to let more people know about us! We will be focussing more on social media and public service announcements to inform the community about some of our special events. However, the best way to attract new people is by YOU inviting them—and so I hope you will start thinking about people you know who might love attending a worship service, an outreach project, a class, or just something we do for fun!

I am looking forward to a very special celebration on February 2nd and hope to see you there. I also hope you’ll bring someone with you!

Aloha Nui Loa!
Kahu