A Message From Our Kahu

“Encountering Those Who Are Different”

I returned last week from a wonderful trip to Guatemala with my son Palani. We spent some time with my cousin Nancy and her husband Alvaro, who live in Guatemala City. We also enjoyed the old capital city of Antigua and beautiful Lake Atitlan where we visited colorful villages along the lakeshore.

My favorite part of the trip were the cultural sites, especially the pyramids and ancient ruins of Tikal and Yaxha. Some of the pyramids in the area are around 3,000 years old, reminding me of the sophistication and well-organized communities of the Mayan people who ruled that part of the world so long ago. Some of the museums we visited contained beautiful masks, containers and implements from those areas.

As I look forward to celebrating Pentecost on Sunday, I wonder what God’s Spirit might be telling us about appreciating people from other cultures who are quite different from us, who see the world through other lenses, and who find ways of connecting with nature and one another which we might find altogether strange. I hope we can have a spirit of openness and appreciation. I hope we can give and receive God’s unconditional love with everyone!

Aloha Nui Loa!
Kahu

A Message From Our Kahu

Feeling Grateful

As I write my monthly message to the members and friends of Koloa Union Church, I am feeling especially grateful. I’m sitting in my studio/office at the Smith Memorial Parsonage and thankful to have a roof over my head—and not just any old roof, but a brand new roof that was recently installed by a local roofing company.

On Sunday I was walking onto the property and saw all of the yard work, as well as outdoor repairs and painting, that volunteers did over the past couple of weeks. I walked under our brand new arbor with a welcoming sign hanging overhead and our newly painted church bell just waiting to be rung, and then made my way into the freshly painted Moore Hall. I poked my head into our brand new kitchen and saw people already getting ready for Aloha Hour.

 Yesterday Michael Horning took down the television and hung all of the art pieces in Moore Hall. I have never seen the place look so nice!

Tomorrow Koloa Union Church will host the Spring Aha Mokupuni, and I am so proud to have people from the UCC Churches all over the island gather for meals, Aha Mele (a musical celebration), the annual meeting of the Kauai Association of the United Church of Christ, and a worship service. I am also looking forward to planning art receptions at the parsonage again this summer!

 We have beautiful church buildings (including the parsonage!) and grounds, in which we can all take great pride. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for countless volunteer hours as well as financial support to make all of this possible. Your generosity and care make a world of difference! Beautiful spaces make for a welcoming environment and provide a place for us all to do meaningful ministry.

Aloha Nui Loa!

Kahu

A Message From Our Kahu

“I will make a way in the wilderness.” Isaiah 43:19

On Sunday we focused on the passage from Isaiah where God promises to make a way in the wilderness for the Jewish people. It was not always easy for them to see the way. There were times when it was difficult to even believe that a way was possible. Imagine looking at the deep waters of the sea in front of them and the heavily-armed Egyptian army in pursuit just behind them!

Sometimes it is difficult for me to see a way for our nation or even believe that a way exists. It seems that people on the right and those on the left can barely even talk to each other—much less share their dreams and desires for their lives and for future generations—much less work together to solve the great contemporary issues of inflation, homelessness, lack of affordable healthcare, deteriorating international relations, unjust immigration policies, and the destruction of the earth.

The greatest challenge of faith is for us to believe that God will make a way for us even when we don’t see how a way is even possible. The second greatest challenge is for us to walk in that way. It is the way of compassion. It is the way of peace. It is the way of justice. It is the way of truth.

Just like it was possible for the Jewish people to find their way to the Promised Land, it is possible for us to find our way as well. May we be committed to God’s ways, knowing that those ways are always possible.

Aloha Nui Loa!
Kahu

A Message From Our Kahu

“A Perspective on Perception”

On March 2nd we gathered for a meal and then a discussion led by Dan Giovanni, a member of our Church Council and Chair of our Building & Grounds Committee. The purposed of the discussion was to consider how we see ourselves as a church, how others in the community see us, and how we want to be perceived by others. It was a lively and good discussion with lots of ideas and suggestions.

In terms of how we see ourselves, that lines up fairly well with our mission statement, which our congregation approved in 2015:

Our mission is to worship and serve God, whom we understand as Creator, Christ and Spirit; embrace our Hawaiian identity, language, and culture; invite and welcome others into our faith community; nurture all with God’s unconditional love; and reach out into the broader community by sharing aloha with everyone.

We also talked about the important step in becoming an official “Open & Affirming” (ONA) Congregation of the United Church of Christ. That involved voting on an ONA Covenant, which our congregation did in 2019, and then submitting it to the United Church of Christ. It was an important step in taking a stand in affirming that we are a church which affirms, welcomes and invites people of every gender identity, sexual orientation, relationship and familial status, immigration status, political party and cause, socio-economic status, religious background and faith tradition, physical and mental ability, ethnicity, age and culture.

Although, members and individuals who attend our church may focus on various aspects of our mission statement and ONA Covenant, as well as some other perceptions, the general feeling I got from listening is that most of us who participated think we can do a better job in getting our concepts of identity and mission out into the community. There are some people who see us very differently than who we are and what we are all about. There are also people who don’t know we are even here. My strong belief is that people would find our church very attractive if they had a clearer understanding of what we actually look like. The most effective way is to invite people to church and let them see this for themselves.

Our Church Council will also be considering ways we can let people on Kauai know who we are and what we stand for. This will likely involve better use of social media, signage, public service announcements, symbols, and logos. We welcome further discussion and will keep the congregation informed as we move forward.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the initial discussion and also for your further thoughts and ideas!

Aloha Nui Loa!

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

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