I am amazed at how much we all still seem to do and accomplish among all the changes over the past month and a half, especially while adhering to social distancing guidelines! At Koloa Union Church, our Deacons meet online almost every Sunday in order to check in with each other, talk about those in our congregation who have needs and how we might assist them, review the online worship service for the day, and discuss anything that has to do with worship, including preparations for reopening the church when the time comes. On Mondays or Tuesdays, I typically meet with our Administrative Assistant Penny Osuga on the phone to talk about everything that needs to happen during the week and also begin preparing my message and the worship plans for the following Sunday. On Wednesday afternoon, just about the time I have finished everything for recording the worship service the next morning, I participate in a weekly meeting with our Conference Minister, David Popham, along with other pastors and church leaders in Hawaii, for support and guidance during the days of COVID-19. On Thursdays, I meet with Chris Sweitzer at the church to video-record the worship service for the following Sunday. On Fridays, I review the entire worship service, and sometimes make suggestions for changes to Chris in order to have it all done and ready to send to you on Saturdays. Once it is all done, I double-check the order of worship; then Penny proofreads the bulletin and attached information by the end of the day on Saturday so that you can have it before Sunday morning. A good portion of most afternoons I spend checking in with church members and committee chairs, answering emails and returning phone calls.
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Taking Care of Myself
What I found during these very full weeks since we have moved to online worship services is that Friday and Saturday no longer work for my days off, at least not for most weeks. So I have begun taking Mondays off whenever possible and then doing my best to take “a full-days worth” of downtime over the weekend, which typically is a half-day on Saturday and a half-day on Sunday but with flexibility depending on the needs of the church. One of the early messages we pastors and other church leaders in the Hawaii Conference of the United Church of Christ heard from David Popham is: “Please do not burn out during this time. If you don’t pace yourself and therefore experience a major burnout, you won’t be of any use to your congregation at all by the end of the pandemic.” I have been adhering to his advice by having weekly downtime, exercising regularly, watercoloring most days and spending time with my son Palani and his girlfriend Isobel, who have been living with me for the past month and a half.
I was planning on being in Berkeley this past weekend for the spring meeting of the Board of Trustees at Pacific School of Religion. Needless to say, I did not attend in person, but participated in a day-long online meeting on Monday, May 11. That day happens to be Palani’s birthday, so we spent some time after my meeting celebrating his special day!
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Reopening Plans
Another area where I am beginning to spend a significant amount of time is on our plans to reopen our church facility. The Hawaii Conference strongly urges congregations to put a team together for this purpose. Michael Horning, Penny Osuga, Penny Jessup, and I are the team that will be putting together the plan by addressing certain questions, which will include the following:
Church Office: What needs to happen before the office is open to the public and what will the guidelines be for staff and those visiting?
Outside Groups: What needs to happen before we allow other groups to use our facilities and what will their guidelines be?
Worship Service: What needs to happen before we can worship again in our sanctuary and what will the guidelines be for all who attend? When and how can we safely celebrate Holy Communion again?
Kitchen and Dining: What needs to happen before we can safely prepare food and eat together again in Moore Hall and what will the guidelines be for all who attend?
Communication: How will we let people know the reopening dates and the guidelines? How will we post these guidelines on the premises?
Although we have not picked a date yet to reopen, it will likely be the end of May or early June at the earliest. Our primary concern is the overall wellbeing of everyone who visits the church, including their safety and health. We will be paying close attention to recommendations from our Governor, Mayor and Conference Minister. The committee will report to both the Deacons and the Church Council, and we will let you know right away as important decisions are made.
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No Newsletter for May
Penny Osuga and I talked around the middle of April and decided to not mail a newsletter for May. There simply was so little additional news to share this month that it didn’t make sense to put in the time and spend money on production and mailing. However, we wanted everyone to know we are still thinking of you, so we sent out a postcard last week to everyone on our mailing list to remind you that we are still sharing aloha with everyone even during these strange days of social distancing and worshiping online. We will also printed off major portions of the Weekly E-news and mailed them to our members who do not have computers or are unable to get our news electronically or watch our online services.
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Good-bye to Kathleen and Chris
Last, but not least, Kathleen Dahill submitted her letter of resignation as Music Director, effective June 1. Also, her talented husband, Chris Sweitzer, will be leaving us at that time as our videographer and sound technician as well. They desire to pursue new directions in their lives and also be available for family needs on the mainland. Fortunately, they will both be available to assist us if we are still worshiping online after June 1. They requested that we not have a public expression of gratitude for their service. However, our Deacons agree that we want to offer a token of thanks and have chosen a meaningful gift which I will present to them at the end of the month. We will miss their over-the-top talent, joyful presence, and contagious smiles, and wish them well in their new endeavors. We have truly been blessed by their ministry among us!
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In Closing…
So, now you know what’s been going on in the day-to-day life of the church and some of the changes that have taken place in recent weeks. No doubt, you too have been experiencing changes in your life. May you deeply feel God’s loving presence, the grace of Jesus and joy of the Holy Spirit as you live through those changes. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to call me if you want to talk, or text or email me if you want to send me a note or information about something that is important to you.
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
“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 a recent message by Kahu Akana, 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.
In my message on Sunday, I talked about a phrase I recently heard for the first time: “a strange intimacy.” Dr. Susan Abraham, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean at Pacific School of Religion, used those words to describe what was happening among faculty and students. During these days of sheltering in place and online classes, there is a strange intimacy happening at the school. It is also happening in my life and, I’m guessing, all over the world. People are feeling especially close to others but in a strange new way. I am sure some of this is because many of us long for the presence of others—something we have taken for granted our entire lives; and now that we are unable to have that which we desire, we value it all the more.
Jesus’ disciples were also experiencing a strange intimacy in the early days after the resurrection. In fact, before any of them had encountered the risen Jesus, they were still gathering together and talking about him. Gathering together in community in his name was very different than it was before the crucifixion, but it was still happening. Yet, when Jesus showed up, the disciples had a hard time recognizing him. Jesus showed up in their midst unexpected and unrecognizable!
I wonder how Jesus is showing up among us in unexpected and unrecognizable ways—perhaps even in shocking ways. He shows up as a refugee, an immigrant, an addict, and a great-grandmother who is especially vulnerable to COVID-19. He shows up over and over again and we fail to recognize him.
I trust when we look back on this time that we will remember the strange intimacy that has taken place; and we will remember not only the loved ones we realized we had taken for granted but we will also remember the strangers in our midst and in the world as well, along with a new and strange intimacy that was enlarged during these strange days filled with wonders as well as challenges.
I look forward to our next online worship service on Sunday!
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
“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 a recent message by Kahu Akana, 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.
The Prayers & Squares Ministry continues to make masks for the following these groups:
1) Koloa Union Church Members The Prayers & Squares team is happy to make a mask for you or your immediate family member. We want to make sure that we are taking care of each other and that we are all safe. Let Cathy Evans know if you need a mask.
2) Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital (KVMH) still needs masks for their employees who are not working with critical care or coronavirus patients.
3) Wilcox Hospital needs masks for staff, patients and families.
4) Garden Isle Health Care is asking for 170 masks.
5) YWCA Women’s Shelter is asking for 20 masks.
6) Women in Need is asking for 21 masks.
Face Masks Are Free! We are not charging anything for face masks because we want to make sure everyone is safe, regardless of ability to pay. If you would like to make a donation to support this effort, please write your check to “Koloa Union Church” with “Prayers & Squares” in the note section. Your donation will go to pay for material for face masks and quilts for those in crisis situations.
Need a Face Mask? Want to Help? Got Questions? Please contact Cathy Evans (volunteer project coordinator): [email protected]; 858-231-6894.
FOOD FOR HUNGRY NEIGHBORS
If you or someone you know on the south shore is hungry, please provide a name and contact information HERE. There may be someone who can no longer afford food. Perhaps someone is unable to leave their home to buy groceries. Our Outreach Committee is coordinating safe pickup and drop off of groceries to make sure none of our neighbors goes hungry during this time.
STEWARDSHIP NEWS
GIVING TUESDAY IS MAY 5
#GivingTuesdayNow is a global day of unity to take place on May 5, 2020, as a response to the unprecedented need caused by COVID-19. People everywhere are invited to support organizations that are helping to transform communities and the world. this includes our church, as we spread the news of God’s love through our online worship services, make hundreds of face masks, and feed hungry people. If you have not yet supported Kōloa Union Church or haven’t done so in awhile, then prayerfully consider a gift of any size on Giving Tuesday. Thank you so much for your generosity!
ONLINE GIVING!
We have already begun to receive gifts online! We created an online giving page on our church website last week in order to make it as easy as possible for people to make a gift to Kōloa Union Church from anywhere in the world! All you need is a credit card, the ability to get online, and the will to help us share aloha with everyone. Click the “Donate Now” button below and make a gift from any place at any time. As always, you can also give by mailing your check to the church: P.O. Box 536, Koloa, HI 96756.
THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS DONORS
Thank you to all those who have been fulfilling their annual commitments and those making additional gifts to the church general fund. Those gifts have made it possible for us to continue our important ministry during these days of worshiping and meeting online. We truly appreciate your generosity!
LECTIONARY READINGS
During challenging times, reading the Bible on a daily basis is a great source of inspiration and hope. I encourage you to read and meditate upon the Scriptures of the Revised Common Lectionary and ask yourself how God might be showing up in the Scriptures for you, what God might be saying to you, and what guidance you might find as you share God’s love in creative and meaningful ways. —Kahu Alan Akana
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 May 3 are Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23; 1 Peter 2:19-25; John 10:1-10.
Readings for May 10 are Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 31:1-16; 1 Peter 2:2-10; John 14:1-14.
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“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!
In my message on Sunday, I referred to Malcolm Gladwell’s most recent book, Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know. Gladwell states that human beings naturally default to truth. In other words, most of the time we trust what people are saying unless we have a reason to believe otherwise. People tell us things every day and almost all of those things are true. “We default to truth…because we have no choice. Society cannot function otherwise,” writes Gladwell. Can you imagine what life would be like if we had serious doubts about every statement you heard every day? Imagine how much time and energy it would take to verify every single thing you hear. We simply cannot function like that.
On the other hand, there are people who lie on a regular basis. Gladwell tells his readers that we should listen to people who point out these lies. We should also pay attention to the signs that someone may not be telling the truth. For example, if you know that someone has lied to you, then you may want to check out the validity of their next statement. Furthermore, if there is someone who is normally trustworthy but their claim just sounds too unbelievable to be true, then you ought to check it out.
Thomas, Jesus’ disciple who did just that, has been criticized for 2,000 for doubting that Jesus rose from the dead. Yet, a closer look at the Gospels shines a much kinder light on Thomas. He was one of Jesus’ most devoted followers and would have laid down his life for him. However, when the other disciples told him that Jesus rose from the dead, well that just sounded to preposterous to believe without checking it out for himself. He basically told the others, “I will believe it when I see it with my own eyes”—and that’s exactly what happened. When the resurrected Jesus appeared to him, he exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!”
I pointed out that the noun “belief” shows up only once in the entire Bible (Revised Standard Version) but the verb “believe” (including “believes” and “believed”) shows up in 257 verses in the New Testament alone; and the book with most of the verses with that word is the Gospel of John. According to John, believing was extremely important to Jesus; and apparently, the quality of believing was way more important than the individual beliefs—otherwise, I think Jesus would have said the word “belief” at least once. I wonder what our world would be like today if Christians everywhere followed the example of John by emphasizing the quality of believing, in other words, believing with integrity, authenticity and compassion, believing in ways that enrich our lives, our relationships, and our communities.
For Jesus, the key was believing that, whoever you are, you matter to God; and whoever else is in the world, others matter to God. Let’s embrace these two beliefs and consider that possibly all other beliefs fall into place when we do.
I look forward to our next online worship service on Sunday!
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
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“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 a recent message by Kahu Akana, 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.
Reaching out into the broader community by sharing aloha with everyone . . .
St. Raphael Food Pantry Koloa Union Church continues to partner with St. Raphael Catholic Church in distributing food to hungry families. If you are younger than 65-years-old (a new rule) and you are available on Friday, May 1, from 9-11, to help at St. Raphael’s, please contact Amber Strong at 907-227-9045 or <[email protected]>. You MUST wear a face mask in order to volunteer (and Amber can bring one for you if you don’t already have one).
Salvation Army Soup Kitchen The Hanapepe Salvation Army has opened its soup kitchen but they do NOT need us this month since they have to limit the number of people on their property at any given time in order to honor the social distancing rules in place. We will keep volunteers posted as to our next day when they need us to serve lunch.
Making Face MasksOver 450 Masks Made So Far!
The Prayers & Squares Ministry continues to make masks for the following three groups:
Koloa Union Church Members The Prayers & Squares team is happy to make a mask for you or your immediate family member. We want to make sure that we are taking care of each other and that we are all safe. Let Cathy Evans know if you need a mask.
Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital (KVMH) still needs masks for their employees who are not working with critical care or coronavirus patients.
Wilcox Hospital needs masks for staff, patients and families.
Face Masks Are Free! We are not charging anything for face masks because we want to make sure everyone is safe, regardless of ability to pay. If you would like to make a donation to support this effort, please write your check to “Koloa Union Church” with “Prayers & Squares” in the note section. Your donation will go to pay for material for face masks and quilts for those in crisis situations.
Need a Face Mask? Want to Help? Got Questions? Please contact Cathy Evans (volunteer project coordinator): [email protected]; 858-231-6894.
Food for Hungry Neighbors If you or someone you know on the south shore is hungry, please provide a name and contact information HERE. There may be someone who can no longer afford food. Perhaps someone is unable to leave their home to buy groceries. Our Outreach Committee is coordinating safe pickup and drop off of groceries to make sure none of our neighbors goes hungry during this time.
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Lectionary Readings
During challenging times, reading the Bible on a daily basis is a great source of inspiration and hope. I encourage you to read and meditate upon the Scriptures of the Revised Common Lectionary and ask yourself how God might be showing up in the Scriptures for you, what God might be saying to you, and what guidance you might find as you share God’s love in creative and meaningful ways. —Kahu Alan Akana
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 Acts 2:14-41; Psalm 116:1-19; 1 Peter 1:17-23; Luke 24:13-35.
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Join Us on Sunday!
“A STRANGE INTIMACY” Getting Close while Staying Apart
Sunday, April 26, 2020
Join Us for Our Next Online Worship Service
† Message by Kahu Alan Akana † Hymns † Reading of the Scriptures † Special Music † Prayers of the People
You can find the link on our website before 10:30 Sunday morning.
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Happy Earth Day!
Enjoy these photos of Kauai taken by Kahu Alan Akana
Thank you, God, for the Earth and all her beauty! Teach us to love her. Teach us to care for her.
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“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!
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