by admin | Jan 1, 2020 | Message from Kahu
Hau`oli Makahiki Hou!
As we enter into a new year and decade as a church, I hope you do so with the same spirit of celebration that I have. It has been a great year! As I think back over the past 12 months, here are some of the things for which I am most grateful:
- The unanimous decision of our members to become an official “Open and Affirming” congregation of the United Church of Christ
- My 3-month sabbatical in southern Europe where I focused on “Beauty, Art and Spirituality” while traveling in France, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Switzerland
- Our Open and Affirming celebration on Pentecost Sunday in June
- Our participation in Kauai’s first Pride Parade and Celebration
- Our Capital Campaign Celebration in September with our new Conference Minister David Popham
- Growth in attendance, membership and giving
- A church choir that sounds better than ever, as well as inspiring and meaningful music every week of the year
There are many other reasons to celebrate as well! I am so grateful to be the Pastor of such a generous, accepting and talented congregation. As I look forward to 2020, I have complete confidence that this will be another year of growth in many ways! I thank you ahead of time for your part in it!
I wish you a very Happy New Year!
Aloha nui loa!!!
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 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.
To learn more about Kahu Akana (and the rest of the staff at Koloa Union Church), click HERE.
by admin | Jan 1, 2020 | News
CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED January 1 & 2. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
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 Jeremiah 31:7-14; Psalm 147:12-20; Ephesians 1:3-14; John 1:1-18.
COMING UP . . . .
MEN’S BREAKFAST The winter men’s breakfast will be starting up again on January 7 at 7:30 a.m. Kalapaki Joe’s in Poipu. The men meet there for breakfast every Tuesday but the 4th Tuesday of the month.
PRAYERS & SQUARES Prayers & Squares is our ministry promoting prayer using hand-tied quilts. The group will meet next on January 7 in Kahu’s office, 1-3 p.m. All sewers and non-sewers are welcome!
__________________________________
“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 | 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!
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