Full, rich, active weeks we are in!
From our Hope for Us workshops and galvanizing worship service “A Certain Kind of Understanding” by Rev. Dr. Samantha Wilson,
To our “The Vote is Sacred” campaign launch and “Break Bread” luncheon welcoming faith community leaders to join in spreading awareness of human rights needs,
To standing up for immigrant rights and against cruelty with 11 UUs and 24 others opposite the Federal Detention Center last Saturday,
To joining with congregants in the vibrant celebration of Dolly Parton’s sacred message of building our authentic selves in Pastor Keola Whittaker’s “An Angel in Rhinestones” service- complete with Glitter Blessing!
To our “The Vote is Sacred” “Faith Feast” – tomorrow, Friday!
You are all WELCOME to JOIN our FAITH FEAST at 6pm in our sanctuary, celebrating our faith communities’ resolve to protect human rights and spread awareness that “The Vote is Sacred”! Sign up here or email me at minister@unitariansofhi.org if you will join us!
On to our beloved Board VP Mary MacKay’s service “In Praise of Naysayers” this Sunday…
We are actively seeking justice, we are full of compassion, and we feel joy!
October is off to a rousing start with our Hope for Us workshops and Sunday service, grounding us in the compassion and dignity of deep listening and understanding. Our work to ground ourselves, heal, and strengthen our relationships within this beloved congregation strengthens our ability to reach out and spread compassion, justice, and joy beyond our walls.
This is a powerful month of UU Honolulu partnering, collaborating, lifting, and protecting. Our continuous support of homeless centers, food distribution, and more expands with: Witness for Immigrants > Reaching out to media, congregants, and friends to demonstrate at the Federal Detention Center > Gathering at 9:30 am at St. Elizabeth’s on King Street to bus to the center > Demonstrating at against ICE October 10th at 10 am on the sidewalk at FDC. > Networking with others to continue standing up for immigrant rights together.
Lead The Vote is Sacred Campaign engaging Oahu Faith Communities > Working with partners TIAH (The Interfaith Alliance Hawai‘i) and HCAN (Hawai‘i Action Network) > Follow up on our September “Break Bread” luncheon with October 16 Faith Feast. > Assembling a database of 200+ leaders and representatives of Oahu faith communities > Creating and delivering invitations, T-shirts, Immigration Rights and Ballot Plain Language Guides > Hosting the event at our church, serving the dinner feast > Leading the Feast program with TIAH and HCAN Support PRIDE Month > Pledging our 100% contribution plate to the LGBTQ+ Legacy Foundation, > Gathering to support the PRIDE march October 17 near the end at the Waikiki Shell > Hosting a PRIDE Festival booth with face painting, heartfelt hugs, games, prizes, and distributing our guest speaker Nico Lang’s book, American Teenager: How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era.
Special Pleasure for Me! It is super busy! But later today, I will start a few days’ break as my youngest daughter, Blake, and her husband, Mario, arrive for a week-long vacation. During the depth of COVID, Blake and Mario met and decided to marry. I flew to NY, where I am licensed to perform weddings. We married them in a tiny COVID-style backyard ceremony. (See Picture) I am so lucky! Not every mother gets to do premarital counseling with her daughter and son-in-law-to-be, conduct their marriage, and hear their beautiful pledges! I savored it and love being with them in Brooklyn and when they come here. I am hoping they will come to church with me on Sunday to see and hear Pastor Keola and Gabe celebrate Dolly and Pride!
I am delighted and proud of the openhearted support our community gives to each other and beyond!
The joy of being together on Sundays is palpable. In a time of deep division, our worship, work, and celebration offer comfort, courage, and inspiration.
Americans have always disagreed. The greater danger now is losing the ability to recognize one another’s humanity—and becoming willing to exclude, punish, or discard those we fear. Genuine listening is not weakness; it is a spiritual discipline. It asks us to listen beneath anger for fear, loss, and longing, while refusing contempt for neighbors whose views we find troubling.
This is the heart of our Hope for Us work. This Friday and Saturday, we will gather to listen, learn, practice, and grow together. Such work strengthens us personally and as a congregation, and may help us bring healing to the wider divisions around us.
Listening does not require surrendering moral clarity. We can acknowledge people’s concerns about safety, borders, and social change while firmly rejecting the dehumanization of immigrants, the separation of families, and the weakening of due process. Democracy requires more than elections: it requires people who can disagree without abandoning one another’s humanity, and institutions willing to protect the vulnerable when fear demands exclusion.
Our calling is both civic and spiritual: to widen the circle of belonging, uphold the rule of law, speak honestly about harm, and practice a love strong enough to seek justice.
I am deeply heartened by this congregation’s commitment and energy. Here are some of the ways we will gather, witness, and serve this month:
October Gatherings
Friday, October 2, 5 pm: Hope for Us workshop and dinner in the church sanctuary.
Saturday, October 3, 10 am: Hope for Us workshop and brown-bag lunch in the upstairs classroom. Please register and check in with the Sof Ma‘arav guard at the front door; go upstairs quietly so as not to disturb their sanctuary service. Please carpool and park at Temple Emanu-El, as church parking is allocated to Sof Ma‘arav.
Sunday, October 4, 10 am: Hope for Us Worship Service, led by our beloved guide, Rev. Samantha Wilson, followed by Talk Story in the sanctuary.
Saturday, October 10: Witness Against ICE at the Federal Detention Center, led by Vicar Rev. David Gierlach. Clergy will wear recognizable garb; bring signs if you can. We will gather at St. Elizabeth Church on King Street and travel by bus to the center. Please email me to reserve a bus seat.
October 16, 6 pm – 8 pm: The Vote is Sacred – Faith Feast – in our sanctuary! We expect 80-100 faith leaders to come together to share concerns and strategies for faith communities to help. We host this event along with sponsors The Interfaith Alliance of Hawai‘i (TIAH), Hawai‘i Children’s Action Network (HCAN), and contributors ACLU and League of Women Voters. Our Rediscovering Hawai‘i’s Soul and Social Justice Team are making this happen. This follows last month’s Break Bread luncheon. About 40 clergy and lay leaders gathered at our church to share issues and ways to raise awareness with our congregations.
Saturday, October 17, 3 pm:Honolulu Pride Parade & Festival, beginning at Magic Island and proceeding along Kalākaua Avenue toward the Waikīkī Shell and Kapiʻolani Park.
Saturday, October 17, 5–9 pm:Honolulu Pride Festival at theTom Moffatt Waikīkī Shell and Diamond Head Greens. Our Social Justice Team will host a community booth distributing heartfelt hugs and treats. Please join us.
Our Faith in Action For Unitarian Universalists, social action is not separate from spiritual life. It grows from worship, prayer, covenant, and community. We affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person and seek justice, equity, and compassion in human relations—especially when people are frightened, families are separated, or neighbors are told they do not belong.
Our presence will not solve every problem, but silence has consequences. By showing up, we declare that human dignity is not merely affirmed in words, but defended in practice. If you join these demonstrations, please bring not only a sign, but a spirit of grounded compassion. May our witness be guided by courage, discipline, care for one another, and a steadfast refusal to surrender anyone’s humanity.
This past week, several of us UUs showed up to support our member John-Paul Chaisson-Cardenas’s HCAN 30th Anniversary celebration. As executive director, John-Paul is leading the Hawai‘i Children’s Action Network many efforts to make Hawai‘i the best place in the world to raise children. Members supporting included his wife Angelica, of course, and Francine, Marie, Cynthia, Tom, Jim Wood and me. We are so impressed with this group’s important work.
Fall is here, and with it, some of our members return from their summer travels. Just to mention two of our returning beloved members:
Beth Beyers is back and will be one of the congregants sharing views of the relation of art and soul in Sunday’s service. Those beautiful Friday Taizé services will restart; look for the notice!
Mary MacKay is back, and we’ll hear from her at our October 18th service.
After a worship service, congregants often ask me for charts, lists, and maps I create in researching and writing our worship services. So I am beginning to provide them on a Minister’s Resource Page.
Also, below are links to two Apps I developed as our OMG (Oh My God!) discussion group progressed.
Concepts of the Divine is an interactive exploration of 15 Concepts of the Divine – theological frameworks. Click and explore as you wish!
The Divine Map App asks a few questions, then shows you where you fall on the map of Divine Concepts. Retake it to explore views. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
My minister@unitariansofhi.org email appears to be working, so please feel free to reach out, arrange a time to meet, and share your views.
Aloha, fellow warriors for divine peace and human rights!
This Sunday, we gather on the theme: “Warriors for the Human Spirit: Living Our Call.” As I read and write to prepare, evidence of the work of warriors in our beloved community floods in.
When I arrived at church last Thursday around 9:30 am carrying silverware and napkins, our president was lining up parking spaces; Marie and BJ were already in the kitchen; Gabe and John-Paul were setting up tables; and Catherine was setting places and guiding us all despite a wounded shoulder. Cynthia and Tom were in the sanctuary setting up the check-in and handout tables. Everything felt generous, graceful, and like clockwork as we prepared for the first collaborative “Sacred Vote” event, a “Break Bread” luncheon for clergy and lay leaders.
“Sacred Vote” is an initiative to engage faith communities in raising awareness of our kuleana to preserve human rights and support congregations voting. We joined TIAH (The Interfaith Association of Hawai‘i), HCAN (Hawai‘i Children’s Action Network), the ACLU, and the League of Women Voters in this work. We have two major meetings and ongoing awareness work to do.
At “Break Bread” last Thursday, over 30 clergy and lay leaders from across Oahu came together at our invitation in person in our sanctuary. Many more leaders said they were off-island or booked, but they’ll be with us in spirit and/or at our next event, “Sacred Vote – Community Faith Feast.”
Gabe launched our event with a beautiful and powerful Oli! Lunching with others and sharing our concerns and support felt like a powerful uniting of like-hearted people. I prepared a plain-language guide to our Hawai‘i state ballots and our Honolulu City and County ballots. Rev. Dr. Cynthia (president of TIAH) reminded me not to distribute these if it would interfere with the League of Women Voters and their handouts. I greeted LWV president, Judith Wong, before the gathering and asked – she enthusiastically accepted my handouts, distributed them with her materials. This morning she wrote to ask if I would mind if the League uses these in their materials.
Being with others from across Oahu, in our sanctuary, transformed to hold and support these leaders in this work to support the sacred vote essential to our human rights, I felt proud and lucky to be in this congregation.
Hoʻomaikaʻi!
on making it through Lala, Moke, and Lowell – 3 hurricanes /tropical storms in 3 weeks!
While we do not yet know the full extent of the damage on Kauai, it seems we here are a resilient people and ‘aina. Many of us have had power outages, no wifi, trees down, winds moving outdoor furniture and plants, some indoor damage, canceled meetings, revised menus, but we persist! All this, and I feel full of mahalo that I live here. I hope it is the same with you.
Calling all Artists!
Whatever your art, whether you make watercolors or mittens, spreadsheets or apricot spread, muffins or tend living plants– whatever your art, I would love to speak with you about your art and what it means to you. Perhaps you will be willing to join our Sept. 27th service, “Art and Soul”.
Please call or write to me at minister@unitariansofhi.org.
Thomas Delaine’s Surgery
Many of us were concerned about the complex surgery our former choir director Thomas endured on Tuesday. This is to let you know that though it was longer than expected, he came through it well.
I am sorry. (I may not have answered your email, or you may not have gotten mine!)
Please forgive me. (I do not know how to repel hackers and phishers!)
Mahalo. (To Suzette and Sue Yamane-Carpenter for taking steps to restore our account.)
I love you. (And your forgiveness, generosity, and kindness feel like love to me.)
You probably recognize the Ho‘oponpono prayer above. I find it so calming, centering, and opening. This week I delivered a workshop at the Kapolei Onelau‘ena shelter to families on Digital Living and Learning. There is a great concern in families about the effect of digital life on youth mental health and isolation. We shared this prayer as a way to center ourselves and our children in the sometimes-fraught cellphone and screen-time conversations.
Hope to see you this Sunday for “Radical Kindness: Aloha in an Age of Scarcity.” I see what I consider radical kindness in our congregation daily, and it inspires me!
Hurricane
It didn’t behave
like anything you had
ever imagined. The wind
tore at the trees, the rain
fell for days slant and hard.
The back of the hand
to everything. I watched
the trees bow and their leaves fall
and crawl back into the earth.
As though, that was that.
This was one hurricane
I lived through, the other one
was of a different sort, and
lasted longer. Then
I felt my own leaves giving up and
falling. The back of the hand to everything. But listen now to what happened
to the actual trees;
toward the end of that summer they
pushed new leaves from their stubbed limbs.
It was the wrong season, yes,
but they couldn’t stop. They
looked like telephone poles and didn’t
care. And after the leaves came
blossoms. For some things
there are no wrong seasons.
Which is what I dream of for me. — Mary Oliver, A Thousand Mornings
Let me know if you want to see the documentary here at church – I found a way :)
We are so lucky to be here, in this miraculous place, with each other.
Hope to see you this Sunday as our church, “Rediscovering Hawai‘i’s Soul,” shares the work of over 700 people (so far) gathering and working together to protect and sustain our rare Hawai‘i.
Mahalo i ke Akua, ua hala aku ka makani pāhili. Thank God the hurricane has passed.
Power off, trees down; we are grateful to be safe.
Others are struggling with devastated houses and communities.
O‘ahu emergency services and HECO have been working to restore service and order.
We are grateful and attentive to what we can do to reduce suffering in the areas most severely hit.
In the midst of danger and loss,
We see the power and beauty of our natural world.
And the importance of community and kindness.
Hats off to our many ingenious friends who found solutions to challenges.
Salutes to stores that kept doors open with no lights.
To HECO workers laboring through the night to bring back our power.
Times like this show the Hawaiian soul matching the devastating beauty and power of our environs.
I am grateful to be back before it hit.
To be here with you through the storm
And for what lies ahead,
Our work together to protect and support those in our congregation and our larger community.
Sunday we will address courage again.
As you and we all do continuously.
Sunday, I stood on an overlook at Big Sur with my son Max and daughter, Gwendolyn, viewing the Mc Way waterfall. This is the only West Coast U.S. waterfall that descends directly into the ocean. The phrase “waterfall descends directly into the ocean” does not sound that impressive – until you actually see it. So I am providing a picture – though you will have to squint to see the fall behind us.
This Big Sur trip brought to mind words Pulitzer Prize-winning Mary Oliver said in an interview, which were quoted in the American Masters documentary Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World.
“I got saved by poetry, and I got saved by the beauty of the world.”
We are so fortunate to be surrounded by such natural beauty here on Oahu. I know we all are influenced and grounded by our sea, mountains, flora, fauna, and ‘aina. And it is good to be reminded of the beauty in other parts of the world, in all the world. (It assuages the guilt some of us feel to be so rich in beauty here.)
As we close out the summer, I’d like to share a Mary Oliver poem – Poem 133: The Summer Day:
Who made the world? Who made the swan, and the black bear? Who made the grasshopper? This grasshopper, I mean— the one who has flung herself out of the grass, the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down— who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes. Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face. Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away. I don’t know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, which is what I have been doing all day. Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? —Mary Oliver
I’ve gotten permission from the distributor to show the documentary (which is not scheduled for Oahu release) here at our church. Please let me know if you are interested in seeing it.
This Sunday I will be back at our church, delighted to see you!
NYC access to Culture
I saw “Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World” – a new, moving feature-length documentary. It follows her journey from a lonely, often difficult childhood to becoming a Pulitzer Prize– and National Book Award–winning poet, highlighting her decades of walking the ponds and forests of Cape Cod/Provincetown, where attention to the natural world became a contemplative, almost mystical practice. Portraying her as an openly queer, intensely private, often sardonic “unlikely contemporary mystic,” living for nearly fifty years with her partner, photographer Molly Malone Cook, the film emphasizes how her work speaks to contemporary anxieties about attention, presence, climate crisis, digital distraction, and social fragmentation.
It is not booked to be shown on Oahu, though it is playing in Hilo now. So I have submitted a request to show it here at the church! If you have not read Mary Oliver’s poetry yet, dive in, you are in for a treat!
On the crazy funny side, I saw “Oh Mary” – a very different Mary, on Broadway. This is a recreation of the history of Mary Todd Lincoln and her husband, Abraham. It is a scream. If you have a chance, see it. If not, ask me about it and I will tell you the hysterical, though based on some truths, story.
California notes
My granddaughter Aurora and I spent the weekend painting, baking, and helping some of our ailing relatives. These were her first nights without her parents in her 5-year life! Her father and mother each kept texting me– “How is Aurora?”, “Is she upset?”, “What are you doing now?” “Could you get her to sleep?” Maybe her parents had trouble being without Aurora? As I lay with her and we told stories, she put an arm around me and said, “I love you more than you can imagine!” And I could feel the love my daughter and son-in-law have surrounded her with, flowing out of her to me. No worries. Blessed be!
Creative Women
Last night I met up with 3 women who built learning for students and teachers with me at TeacherUniverse. We had not been together for 16 years. They are each still building learning; one teaches PGE employees to climb towers and creates apprenticeships. They all loved hearing about UUHonolulu and about Oberon and want to come see!
Today I help my eldest daughter Gwendolyn move into a new apartment; tonight we celebrate birthday dinner for her and my son, Max, and tomorrow I help Max move into his new house.
Crystal and all the worship team are building another important experience for Sunday morning. I am enjoying laying it out in our Order of Service while listening to music choices. I wish I could be there in person to hear it, but I am also so glad to be participating in the lives of family and friends here in the SF Bay area.
I feel connected, though at a distance via emails, texts, planning, an OMG Zoom, and you all present in my heart and mind. Email me as needed – minister@unitariansofhi.org
After time with NY family, museums, shows, and seeing the magnificent dance of one great-niece and the great comedy of another– I am off to California on Friday. These young people give me hope and joy! (If you like, click the links for very short, very rough videos.)
In line with our focus on “Between Screen and Soul” and the many complex questions our various generations face:
Hawai‘i public schools announced a ban on cellphones in school yesterday. Along with other districts across the country, in response to lost focus in the classroom, our Board of Ed set, and our district HIDOE is implementing the new cellphone policy. Cellphones are banned for students in elementary and middle school, and high school principals can give some extra leeway for students to use phones before and after classes. 35 states and over three-quarters of U.S. public schools now ban cellphones during instructional time. These limits come as we all see the awesome and worrisome advances of AI. I believe this is a subject we will continue to wrestle with here.
I feel connected, though at a distance via emails, texts, planning, an OMG Zoom, and you all present in my heart and mind. Email me as needed – minister@unitariansofhi.org.
Communications!
It has been wonderful to have our communications consultant (who is assembling this very newsletter), Andrew Laros (and his wonderful girlfriend Megan), with us over the last week. Andrew shared his “Between Screen and Soul” message along with me last Sunday. We ran long; I apologize! There was too much to share. I’ll find other solutions so it doesn’t run long again. But I was glad to hear, despite the length, that many of you felt this service was valuable to you.
Suzette, Marshall, Irina, and I met with Andrew in a communications workshop on Friday! We hope that some of you will join us in a communications team! Please email me if interested in helping us to spread our messages via Newsletter, social media, videos, pictures, PR, etc!
Community and Food!
Kudos to Paul Davis for originating, Marie Anne for orchestrating hospitality and lunch without debacle, and the Social Justice Team for laying out a delicious spread for “Free Lunch” last Sunday. It was delightful to be with joyful, congenial folks in a relaxed setting with a truly delicious lunch. I know it is an awesome task for the Board to be the next host of “Sunday Three/Free Lunch” (third Sunday) on August 16th. I hope to see you there!
Music and Pain!
We are all wincing with Peg Neva at her broken hand. The accident came while running – seems to me anyone who runs should only be rewarded, not punished by pain. This brings her guitar playing to a halt for a while– and so our music will be limited on Sundays for the next few weeks. Noe will be back August 16th.
Our OMG (Oh My God!) gang gathered for our second time Tuesday at 4 pm. Scheduling in-person with disparate schedules is tough, so we are a smallish group. Since I will be traveling, our next in-person Study meeting will be Tuesday, August 18th at 4 pm. We have a shared website with resources we are gathering theological, philosophical, and religious notes, links, and videos on concepts and thinkers. We will meet on Zoom next Tuesday at 3 pm to make sure all can navigate and add to our shared site. If you would like to join our group, you may join the Zoom with this link on July 28th at 3 pm, or you may join us in person on Tuesday, 8/18, at 4 pm in the study.
My time away
I leave Thursday 7/23 to see my great-niece dance with the American Ballet Theater and visit with my extended family in NY. Then I will be in CA with my family there and will conduct a memorial for a dear friend and civil rights heroine, returning 8/15. Look forward to seeing you all 8/16!
I will be managing Sunday services and emergencies while on the road. So, go ahead and email me as needed – minister@unitariansofhi.org.
“Free Lunch” on Sunday, July 19th, will be our first after-service communal meal in a while. Free Lunch will recur on the 3rd Sunday of each month, hosted by committees in our church. The Social Justice Team is hosting our first. (Donations welcome, but NOT required.)
The Social Justice Team has been mighty active – last Tuesday the first episode of the “SocialJustice@Heart” discussion group was held. John-Paul Chaisson-Cardenas, one of our valiant SJTeam members and executive director of Hawai‘i Kids Can, led the discussion on the important and dangerous national anti-DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) actions. You can watch and listen on our UUHonolulu YouTube channel. Here is the direct link: SocialJustice@Heart Episode 1 DEI
Our “OMG” discussion/study group met Tuesday for our first in-person meeting in the church study. We will meet again next week, then we will have a 3 week summer break, with the next meeting on and members will each get set up with access to an online sharing area– where links to articles, videos, notes on meetings, members’ interests and reflections are housed. You are welcome to join us next Tuesday, 7/21 @ 4 pm. We will resume on Tuesdays at 4 pm 8/18, 8/25, 9/1, and 9/8. Email me if you want to join at any time so that I can give you access to our online sharing area.
Intriguing Guest: Andrew Laro, our remote communications pro who has just earned his MDiv and MSW, is joining us for the next two Sundays. He and his partner Megan will be with us for this week and next. You are invited to a communications/media meeting on Friday, 7/17, at 3 pm. Our goal is to reach more people through videos, events, posts, and information, seeking to raise awareness of UUHonolulu and to foster peace and unity in our larger community.
My summer travels:From July 24th to August 15th, I will be in NYC, DC, and SF with family and friends, seeing my niece dance and conducting a memorial for a heroine. Together at church: Let me know if you can join me during my church “office hours” on Wednesday, 1:30-6:30 pm! I would love to see you!
No sermon – The clock said 11 am on Sunday morning, and the “Courage- the Uprising Heart” service had been so rich and heartfelt that the sermon and meditation still lay ahead. I looked at our bright and loving congregants and thought— we have all gained enough, from Gabe’s moving and dynamic story of the courage and valor of Queen Liliuokalani, from the beautiful music delivered by our choir with Peg on guitar, from the representative of the Pacific Gateway Center, our share-the-plate beneficiary this month. So I put my sermon aside for another day, canceled the meditation, and we moved to hearing Eddie Vedder sing “Hawai‘i 78” as a prayer, and to sing our own closing song. A new kind of leadership for me, to NOT DO when enough has been done.
“SocialJustice@Heart” had its first monthly Zoom meeting last night. John-Paul Chaisson-Cardenas presented historical context and current repercussions of Anti-DEI. This was his PhD topic, and we all benefited from his clear and layered understanding. Throughout the discussion, participants raised questions and penetrating insights. This was a valuable evening. You can find the video on the Justice tab of our website. Next month, on the first Tuesday, August 4th, John-Paul is assembling a panel of experts on Immigration. Register at that same tab.
“OMG” (Oh My God!), the discussion group will meet for the first time on Tuesday, 7/14 at 4pm. This group grew out of our service last month. Congregants shared their views and beliefs. Many of us were captivated by the depth we saw in each other. We will be sharing with each other, and I will offer optional videos and books for us to peruse. Based on group interest, current themes in the spiritual/social/psychological sphere we may explore are Collective Trauma, the Great Turning, trauma-informed education and counseling, the “SBNR” (spiritual but not religious) movement, Quantum Convergence, as well as UU history and theology. More people identify with UU beliefs, yet UU church membership is down nationally. We may find ways the church can enrich life in ways that spur membership.
“Free Lunch” on Sunday, July 19th, will be our first after-service communal meal in a while. Free Lunch will recur on the 3rd Sunday of each month, hosted by committees in our church. The Social Justice Team is hosting our first. (Donations welcome, but NOT required.)
Mahalo for all you do!
Rev. Deborah
P.S. Some crazy emails are reaching some of you, purporting to be from me, and asking for things I would never ask. Please, if you get an email that seems like it is from me, your minister, click on the email address of the sender– if it is anything but “Minister@UnitariansofHI.org” – it is NOT me! I regret we all have to deal with these fraudulent emails and phishing schemes!!!
What a beautiful day in Hawai‘i. I am writing with over-the-top gratitude today. Mahalo nui loa to you all, to my beloveds beyond, and to our precious place. It is my birthday today (yesterday, as you read this). And on our birthdays, we likely all reflect on life. For me, it was unforeseen that I would have the opportunity to serve this church. I feel privileged, honored, and grateful.
When the church is full of people, I feel an energy and an eagerness to join together for good. When it is empty, I feel opportunity. It has been wonderful to see other groups come together here for shared objectives.
We are fortunate to have this congregation, this church foundation from which to derive strength, support, and the mana to help others. In these challenging, concerning times, that is a real blessing. I am grateful to inhabit it with you.
And today is the first day of our new church year. We are entering it with a new board: president Jim Wood, vice-president Mary Mackay, treasurer Sue Yamane Carpenter, secretary Karen Fothergill, and directors Leanne MacIntire, Juliet Begley, and Peg Neva..
Mahalo nui loa to this past year’s president Sue Yamane Carpenter, VP Catherine Graham, Treasurer Dave Hafner, and Secretary Karen Fothergill! Thank goodness Sue is staying on, now as treasurer, and Karen continues to support us as secretary. Our volunteers carry this church on their backs with whole hearts, and we are so thankful for them.
We are going to begin an “Oh My God” discussion group this week, exploring the divine we each see and sharing thoughts and beliefs. There will be a bit of optional reading. But mostly it will be deep sharing. I sent a Doodle poll to each of you to see when and if you might want to join. We have about 8 signed up so far; some will miss weeks due to travel. The preferred day and time is Tuesday from 4 – 5:30 pm. Please email me if you wish to join. We will meet July 7, 14, 21, and 8/18, 25, 9/1, and will see if there is interest in continuing beyond then. I hope you join!
> Sunday, we will consider COURAGE. I hope to see you then. > At 9:30 am, Keif Arriola will host a meditation in the study. > Tuesday evening at 6:30 pm, consider the impact of “Anti-DEI,” our member, executive director of HCAN, John-Paul Chaisson-Cardenas, will lead the first of our Social Justice Team-initiated Social Justice@Heart on Zoom. Read about it in the SJ Column by Francine Less in this newsletter.
In my photo today, you see my birthday roses sent by beloved kids and long-distance husband. It is a wonderful birthday so far, and you are part of what makes it so!
A few months ago, I began speaking with the leaders of Hawai‘i Soul about our church participating in learning, workshops, and activities to explore, sustain, and protect what is precious about our home, ‘aina, people, and values. They seek teams from organizations here to work together for our common good.
Jim Wood, Catherine Graham, Gabe Tiogangco, John-Paul Chaisson-Cardenas, and I are a team, and we have been reading their website and brochures, watching videos, and participating in an introductory Zoom session. Thursday and Friday, we will be in face-to-face workshops in Honolulu. We will be reporting back to you on what we learn. One of their bywords that I love is “Relationships are not the tool, they are the point.” I know the five of us feel the relationships we are already gaining are valuable. I will paste a graphic of their concept here.
I am reminded of a church service I led about 10 years ago that aligned the HI DOE Hawaiian basis for learning, Na Hapeno A‘o, with our UU 7 principles. Now we have eight, and they still relate!
We will be reporting to you on what we learn!
Don’t forget the Saturday, June 27, Aids Walk, “a short walk around Kapiolani Park.” The event hub and gathering area are at the bandstand in Kapiʻolani Park. Walk from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm. Honolulu AIDS Walk
Later Saturday at 5 pm, join us for the “How to Help Trans Teens Survive Hate and Find Joy” panel in our sanctuary – Nico Lang, the author of “American Teenager – How Trans Teens Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy,” will serve on the panel with Kim Coco Iwamoto our friend in the Hawai‘i legislature, Sandra Harjo-Livingston, Chair, LBGTQ+ Commission, and Mika Inoue, LBGTQ+ Advocate and Mental Health Professional, and Randy Soriano, Executive Director of the Hawai‘i LBGTQ+ Legacy Foundation. We are honored to host such an impressive panel!
Before our Sunday service, led by Nico Lang and Gabe Tiogangco, Keif Arriola will open the study at 9:30 am for meditation. I hope you may join him, and this may be a regular happening!
“To Err is Human, to Forgive, Divine.” William S said it, but that’s how I feel about my invitation to you all to join me at my house this Saturday at 2 pm to watch the Rt. Rev. Marian Budde deliver our UUA annual Ware Lecture.
Carla Allison kindly warned me that I was breaking a rule! I had not realized that the Ware lecture is only to be seen by paying UUA General Assembly participants. I was surprised. I have not attended UUA GA in many years, and was not aware of the rules. I appreciated her heads-up and wrote to the GA organizers, noting that I am the minister of First Unitarian Church of Honolulu and would like to host members and friends who might like to watch Rev. Budde on my home screen. The UUA organizers wrote back immediately, thanking me for asking and noting that “no,” we cannot share the Ware lecture. I looked into it and found that Ware’s lectures are not available on YouTube (or anywhere I can find them), even years later. I could only find 2019 and 2015.
We are in such a fearsome and dangerous time that I feel inspiring examples of the kind of insight and courage we need should be shared with the widest possible audience. Carla and I have been watching the GA meetings and panels despite her high fever! And the messages and speakers are inspiring and informative, and they make me proud and hopeful about our denomination.
I do not want to be discouraged by this rule, but I do want to support our UUA. So…
You are invited to my house to watch some of Rt. Rev. Budde’s finest messages that model clarity, kindness, and bravery — and hear a recap of the Ware lecture.
“Sharing the Courage of Rt. Rev. Budde”
3 pm on Saturday, just AFTER the Ware lecture
46-173 Kalai Place, Kaneohe
Pupus (RSVP to minister@unitariansofhi.org, so I have enough pupus)
And of course, this Sunday is our Annual UUA General Assembly Sunday Service with an honoring of Juneteenth and a “Fathers” Story for all Ages. The service will be followed by our Annual Meeting. We hope to see you Sunday!
Philip Riley’s Gallery on the Pali show, promoted by Marshall Heaney’s online video, opened last Saturday and brought joy with its beauty, depth, and wonderful words for each landscape and portrait. Please visit the Gallery and do not miss reading Philip’s title cards! Above are some pix of Philip with Marshall, Waipahu VP Gary Chun, and Waipahu’s Art and Drama leader, Thelma Madriago. Philip has long been a Special Ed teacher at Waipahu HS, and Marshall and I talked with his friends about a possible Waipahu student show in our Gallery!
Our visiting author/journalist, Nico Lang, arrived Monday, dined with Marie and me, and met Oberon. Today they are off to Kauai, Hawai‘i, and Maui to speak and sign books. Next week, they will rejoin us for the 6/27 5 pm Saturday panel with Kim Coco Iwamoto and others, and for the 6/28 Sunday service. See Nico and Oberon here.
June is a very big month for us, it is Pride Month, and much is happening- highlights:
6/14 – Sunday service by Pastor Keola “Come Home: A Pride Sermon on the Body as Holy Ground.”
6/19 – Juneteenth – some of us are chatting about an honoring on Friday, as well as at the beginning of our Sunday GA service. Let me know if you are interested.
6/21 UUA GA Sunday service – we will watch together in the Sanctuary, we will honor fathers, and Juneteenth.
6/27 – “How Can Trans Kids Survive Hate and Find Joy” Panel with Nico Lang, Kim Coco Iwamoto, Sandra
6/28 – Sunday Service – Nico Lang, LGBTQ+ journalist and author of “American Teenagers- How Trans Kids Survive Hate and Find Joy”.
Last laugh… Sunday, we looked at how religions use humor “on us” (to communicate with us). For the last bit of my message, I shared how we can use humor on religion, in other words, I told jokes. You can get right to the jokes by clicking here to be on our YouTube channel at that Sunday service. Scroll to 46 minutes in to just listen to the jokes. Hope you enjoy them!
And with this June brightness, we have more opportunities to honor, celebrate, study, and support together!
“What’s Laughter Got to Do With It” – This Sunday, we are looking at how humor lifts our spirits and our lives, and considering how religions have employed it from Jesus to Mohammed to Buddha to Ganesh. Come have a hearty (spiritual) laugh with us!
June is National and Hawai‘i State Pride Month
(Here on Oahu, our main celebration and march is in October.) So, we celebrate both and all ways!
On June 14th, Keola will deliver the service: “Come Home: A Pride Sermon on the Body as Holy Ground.”
We have been working with Nico Lang, LGBTQ+ journalist and author of “American Teenager – How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era.” They will be delivering our Sunday service on June 28th, and we have organized a panel discussion and Book Signing for Saturday, June 27th, at 5 pm.
OMG! Our “Oh My God” service generated interest in more exploration together of meaning, the divine, theology, history– what moves us. So we are going to have a series of meetings, I am calling them “Divine Discussions.” We are thinking this series should be in person and we are considering the day/time that is best for most of us. If you are interested, please email me your available days/times.
More good news…
“SocialJustice@Heart – Interfaith Conversations on Social Justice, Democracy, and Belonging” will meet on the first Tuesday of each month beginning July 7th at 6pm. These are instigated by your Social Justice team, sponsored by The Interfaith Alliance of Hawai‘i, UUHonolulu, and Hawai‘i Children’s Action Network, and facilitated by member John-Paul Chaisson-Cardenas.
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Aloha!!
My time away
Aloha mai kākou, 
