Lisbon, Portugal
Kahu’s Last Day in Europe
It is good to be home after spending three months in Europe! I had a fantastic time focusing on beauty, art and spirituality in France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland—and I look forward to sharing with everyone in the coming weeks and months about my adventures and what I learned over the past three months! I’ll be talking about my sabbatical on Sunday mornings throughout the summer and also showing a slideshow at the parsonage on June 16. I saw some amazing art and inspirational places of worship and reflection. Throughout the entire spring, beauty was unfolding everywhere as flowers burst on the scene as landscapes and gardens transformed from earth tones to stunning places of color and vibrancy.
This Sunday will be a special time as we celebrate Pentecost and our new “Open & Affirming” (ONA) status in the United Church of Christ. I’ll be talking about some of my experiences worshiping in churches throughout southern Europe during my sabbatical. We will give thanks for our newly adopted ONA covenant and commitment to welcoming and including people of all backgrounds and lifestyles. We will also collect our annual “Strengthen the Church” special mission offering in order to promote new areas of growth in ministry throughout the UCC. We will continue to celebrate after the worship service during a special Aloha Hour as well! Be sure to wear one of the colors of the rainbow, if you are able, as we plan to take a group photograph on this special occasion!
I look forward to spending Friday and Saturday this week with Bridget Hammerquist and Shellee Riggio in Honolulu at the `Aha Pae`aina, which is the annual gathering and business meeting of the Hawai`i Conference of the United Church of Christ. One of the decisions we will make at the `Aha is whether or not Rev. Dr. David Popham will become our next Conference Minister. Thanks to everyone who attended the special dinner in Lihu`e yesterday to meet David! Please keep us all in your prayers as we seek God’s guidance for our churches in Hawai`i nei!
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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