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
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