by admin | Mar 25, 2019 | News
KAHU ON SABBATICAL/REV. SARAH JONES FILLING IN
Our Kahu, Rev. Dr. Alan Akana, is on sabbatical from March 4 through June 3 in Europe. Based in southern France, he is traveling, reading, writing and painting while focusing on the theme, “beauty, art and spirituality.” He will be back with us on Pentecost, Sunday, June 9. We are grateful to have the Rev. Sarah Jones filling in most Sunday mornings while Kahu is gone. If you have need for pastoral care, you may contact Sarah at Wilcox Medical Center or at 631-2444. Our Deacons are also available to pray with and assist church members and friends in crisis; please contact the church office or Christine Kube (Chair of our Board of Deacons) at 635-1785.
ALL CHURCH BREAKFAST
Tuesday, March 26, 7:30 a.m. Kalapaki Joe’s Poipu. Join church members and friends as we “talk story” and spend this time getting to know each other better.
PRAYERS & SQUARES
Tuesday, 10 a.m. in Kahu’s office. Gather with the ladies as you will learn how to piece a cross background using a sheet, press, layer, stitch and tie and label. There are 2 quilts that need ties and labels. And you can finish some Prayer Squares. See you there!
ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING
This special mission offering will be collected on Sunday, March 31. A gift to One Great Hour of Sharing enables our church to share God’s love with people in need around the world by providing relief to those affected by natural disasters, provide food to the hungry and help empower the poor and oppressed.
Thank you for your generous gifts!
SCENT-FREE ENVIRONMENT
We have members, friends, and a kahu who are highly allergic to various scents, often resulting in coughing, sneezing, difficulty breathing and speaking, as well as other symptoms. Heavy perfumes and colognes are particularly troublesome. We are requesting that our church be, as much as possible, a “scent-free” environment during worship services, social activities and meetings. We realize that there is no way to keep all scents away, and we plan to continue having fresh flower arrangements each week and leis for special occasions, but we do ask everyone to be sensitive to the needs of those around them when it comes to perfumes, colognes and lotions.
THE LATEST COCONUT WIRELESS
The Hawai`i Conference of the United Church of Christ shares news on the Coconut Wireless, the regular weekly newsletter of the HCUCC. If you would like to keep abreast on news, opportunities and events, please click HERE for the latest news. If you like what you see, you may subscribe and get every issue of the Coconut Wireless automatically and get the very latest news hot off the press.
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 Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 32; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Luke 15:1-32.
PARKING NOTE
Thanks to all who are able who have been making parking more manageable on Sunday mornings! Those who have been carpooling and parking at the school and on Waikomo Road have made a big difference in making room for the elderly, our visitors, and those who have trouble walking.
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Coming up….
PALM/PASSION SUNDAY
April 14. Come to church and enjoy a youth Easter skit. The Sunday School will conduct the entire service.
MAUNDY THURSDAY SERVICE
April 18, 7 p.m. Please join us for this special service. It is the Christian holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter. It commemorates the foot washing and Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. It is the fifth day of Holy Week, preceded by Holy Wednesday and followed by Good Friday.
GOOD FRIDAY
11 a.m. in Moore Hall. Join the church youth to color Easter eggs followed by a hot dog lunch.
EASTER SUNDAY
Easter egg hunt after Easter service.
The Alan Akana Gallery will be closed today.
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“Weekly News of the Church” is provided 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!
by admin | Mar 13, 2019 | News
ENSEMBLE PRACTICE Come one, come all. Practice on Saturday, March 16, noon, at the church.
WELCOME REV. SARAH JONES Sunday, March 17, will be Rev. Sarah Jones’ first Sunday with us. She will be our guest preacher until June 2, when our Kahu Alan returns from sabbatical.
SCENT-FREE ENVIRONMENT We have members, friends and a kahu who are highly allergic to various scents, often resulting in coughing, sneezing, difficulty breathing, headaches and speaking, as well as other symptoms. Heavy perfumes and colognes are particularly troublesome. We are requesting that our church be, as much as possible, a “scent-free” environment during worship services, social activities and meetings. We realize that there is no way to keep all scents away and we plan to continue having fresh flower arrangements each week and leis for special occasions, but we do ask everyone to be sensitive to the needs of those around them when it comes to perfumes, colognes and lotions.
PARKING NOTE Thanks to all who are able who have been making parking more manageable on Sunday mornings! Those who have been carpooling and parking at the school and on Waikomo Road have made a big difference in making room for the elderly, our visitors, and those who have trouble walking.
THE LATEST COCONUT WIRELESS The Hawai`i Conference of the United Church of Christ shares news on the Coconut Wireless, the regular weekly newsletter of the HCUCC. If you would like to keep abreast on news, opportunities and events, please click HERE for the latest news. If you like what you see, you may subscribe and get every issue of the Coconut Wireless automatically and get the very latest news hot off the press.
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 Genesis. 15:1-18; Psalm 27; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 13:31-35.
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COMING UP…
MEN’S BREAKFAST The last men’s breakfast of the season will be on Tuesday, March 19, 7:30 a.m. at Kalapaki Joes Poipu. Join the men of the church and their friends as they visit over breakfast and a cup of coffee.
ALL CHURCH BREAKFAST Join the all-church breakfast on the 4th Tuesday of every month, 7:30 a.m. at Kalapaki Joe’s Poipu. The next scheduled breakfast is March 26. Members and friends are invited to attend.
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“Weekly News of the Church” is provided 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!
by admin | Mar 5, 2019 | News
RECORD-BREAKING WEEK Koloa Union Church has been blessed with a record breaking week.
February 24: We enjoyed Church on the Beach at beautiful Poipu Beach. We had 92 attending Sunday service and enjoying a potluck lunch! We also celebrated Kahu Alan’s 5 year anniversary with Koloa Union Church.
February 26: All-church breakfast at Kalapaki Joe’s Poipu had 23 meeting for breakfast and visiting with friends.
March 3: Kahu’s last Sunday before leaving on sabbatical had the sanctuary overflowing with 115 in attendance.
We are blessed!
OPEN AND AFFIRMING Koloa Union Church proudly announces that members have unanimously voted to become and Open and Affirming Congregation.
MEN’S BREAKFAST Tuesday, 7:30 a.m., Kalapaki Joe’s Poipu. Join the men of the church and their friends as they continue this winter tradition. Everyone (men & women) is invited to breakfast on the 4th Tuesday on each month.
PANCAKE SUPPER/SHROVE TUESDAY/MARDI GRAS/ FAT TUESDAY
Tuesday, March 5, 6:00 p.m. Join us on this eve before Ash Wednesday for a fun pancake supper. This tradition can be traced back to at least 1000 AD and is a time to feast due to the need to get rid of restricted foods/ingredients during the Lenten fasting such as eggs, milk, butter, flour.
ASH WEDNESDAY Wednesday, March 6, 7:00 p.m. We mark Ash Wednesday as the first day of Lent. It follows Shrove Tuesday. It is traditionally a time of fasting and prayer in preparation for receiving or reaffirming baptism at Easter. We will have a service of the ashes.
YOUTH OUTING Sunday, March 10, after church. The youth will be going to Kilauea Miniature Golf. Let Tiffany know if you would like to attend.
SCENT-FREE ENVIRONMENT We have members, friends, and a kahu who are highly allergic to various scents, often resulting in coughing, sneezing, difficulty breathing and speaking, as well as other symptoms. Heavy perfumes and colognes are particularly troublesome. We are requesting that our church be, as much as possible, a “scent-free” environment during worship services, social activities and meetings. We realize that there is no way to keep all scents away, and we plan to continue having fresh flower arrangements each week and lei for special occasions, but we do ask everyone to be sensitive to the needs of those around them when it comes to perfumes, colognes and lotions.
THE LATEST COCONUT WIRELESS
The Hawai`i Conference of the United Church of Christ shares news on the Coconut Wireless, the regular weekly newsletter of the HCUCC. If you would like to keep abreast on news, opportunities and events, please click HERE for the latest news. If you like what you see, you may subscribe and get every issue of the Coconut Wireless automatically and get the very latest news hot off the press.
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 Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 91:1-16; Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13.
PARKING NOTE Thanks to all who are able who have been making parking more manageable on Sunday mornings! Those who have been carpooling and parking at the school and on Waikomo Road have made a big difference in making room for the elderly, our visitors, and those who have trouble walking.
___________________
COMING UP. . . .
WELCOME REV. SARAH JONES
Sunday, March 17 will be Rev. Sarah Jones’ first Sunday with us. She will be our guest preacher until June 2 while Kahu is on sabbatical.
___________________
“Weekly News of the Church” is provided 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!
by admin | Feb 27, 2019 | News
BON VOYAGE PARTY FOR KAHU Kahu will be hosting a bon voyage party on Sunday, March 3, from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Smith Memorial Parsonage. Come and enjoy cake, coffee and iced tea, and say good-bye to Kahu before he leaves on his 3-month sabbatical in southern France the next day. All items at the gallery will be 20-50% off on this day!
SCENT-FREE ENVIRONMENT We have members, friends, and a kahu who are highly allergic to various scents, often resulting in coughing, sneezing, difficulty breathing and speaking, as well as other symptoms. Heavy perfumes and colognes are particularly troublesome. We are requesting that our church be, as much as possible, a “scent-free” environment during worship services, social activities and meetings. We realize that there is no way to keep all scents away, and we plan to continue having fresh flower arrangements each week and lei for special occasions, but we do ask everyone to be sensitive to the needs of those around them when it comes to perfumes, colognes and lotions.
THE LATEST COCONUT WIRELESS The Hawai`i Conference of the United Church of Christ shares news on the Coconut Wireless, the regular weekly newsletter of the HCUCC. If you would like to keep abreast on news, opportunities and events, please click HERE for the latest news. If you like what you see, you may subscribe and get every issue of the Coconut Wireless automatically and get the very latest news hot off the press.
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 Exodus 34:29-35; Psalm 99; 2Corinthians 3:12-5; Luke 9:28-44.
___________________
COMING UP. . . .
MEN’S BREAKFAST Tuesday, 7:30 a.m., Kalapaki Joe’s Poipu. Join the men of the church and their friends as they continue this winter tradition. Everyone (men & women) is invited to breakfast on the 4th Tuesday on each month.
PANCAKE SUPPER/SHROVE TUESDAY/MARDI GRAS/ FAT TUESDAY Tuesday, March 5, 6:00 p.m. Join us on this eve before Ash Wednesday for a fun pancake supper. This tradition can be traced back to at least 1000 AD and is a time to feast due to the need to get rid of restricted foods/ingredients during the Lenten fasting such as eggs, milk, butter, flour.
ASH WEDNESDAY Wednesday, March 6, 7:00 p.m. We mark Ash Wednesday as the first day of Lent. It follows Shrove Tuesday. It is traditionally a time of fasting and prayer in preparation for receiving or reaffirming baptism at Easter. We will have a service of the ashes.
YOUTH OUTING Sunday, March 10, after church will be the next activity for Sunday school and youth. Let Tiffany know if you would like to attend.
WELCOME REV. SARAH JONES Sunday, March 17 will be Rev. Sarah Jones’ first Sunday with us. She will be our guest preacher until June 2 while Kahu is on sabbatical.
___________________
“Weekly News of the Church” is provided 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!
by admin | Feb 27, 2019 | Message from Kahu
“Beauty All Around Us”
On Sunday, I shared a story from the book Moloka`i, by Alan Brennert, which I read over the previous couple of weeks. In the novel, a Catholic nun by the name of Sister Catherine had arrived at Kalaupapa, one of the most beautiful places in Hawai`i, to care for the patients who suffered from leprosy, also known today as Hansen’s Disease. Her first couple of weeks were especially difficult, as she dressed the wounds of young girls. She did her best all day long, every day, not to wretch as she tended one wound after another. After she had been there for a couple of weeks, she was unwrapping the bandages on the arm of a young girl by the name of Noelani, who was about 15. The wound was so horrible to look at, that Sister Catherine let out a horrifying cry and felt that she would throw up right then and there. She rushed outside and dropped to her knees. The beauty of Kalaupapa was far from her thoughts.
Fortunately, her colleague Sister Leopoldina covered for her, and when their shift was over, Leopoldina took her across the yard to the girl’s dining room. There was a cabinet there, in which Leopoldina rummaged through one of the drawers until she found a piece of paper. She told Sister Catherine the famous writer Robert Louis Stevenson had written something on the paper—something he wrote when he visited Kalaupapa in 1889—and then she read the poem:
To see the infinite pity of this place,
The mangled limb, the devastated face,
The innocent sufferers smiling at the rod,
A fool were tempted to deny his God.
He sees, and shrinks; but if he look again,
Lo, beauty springing from the breast of pain!—
He marks the sisters on the painful shores,
And even a fool is silent and adores.
When Sister Leopoldina first saw that slip of paper, she said to Mother Marianne, “Why, it’s beautiful! It’s lovely, isn’t it?”
But Marianne said to Leopoldina, “We are not the ones to be flattered.” And she told Leopoldina to look outside on the lawn at girls with clean clothes and freshly dressed bandages, who were lame and crippled from leprosy, but joyfully playing croquet on a lawn created just for them.
Then Mother Marianne said, “There is beauty in the least beautiful of things.”
Here were young girls who were suffering from a debilitating diseases, causing scars on their skin and disappearing body parts, separated from families most of them would never see again. And yet, they laughed and played and loved. Indeed, there is beauty in the least beautiful of things.
May we remember when we serve others that we are not the ones to be flattered. Rather, we join with God as co-creators of beauty in the lives of those around us and our own as well—for when we create beauty for others, beauty is being created for us as we do it.
Aloha nui!
Kahu
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Our Kahu (Pastor) offers a weekly message in church most Sundays during the year. Click HERE to see a video of a recent message from Sunday morning. 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.
“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.
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