June 26, 2024
The 202nd ‘Aha Pae’aina of the Hawai’i Conference, United Church of Christ, took place over the weekend of June 13-15 at Central Union Church UCC in Honolulu. We rejoiced to have the UCC’s General Minister and President with us. The Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson, who preached at Church of the Holy Cross in June 2016, responded to questions and delivered the sermon at opening worship. Since then, she has visited the devastated community of Lahaina on Maui and attended some of the Pacific Islander and Asian-American Ministries meeting held on O’ahu the following week.
The Conference reflects the reality of Hawai’i. The old injuries of the overthrow and the accumulation of power and wealth affect the lives of every resident of these islands. It takes time to understand; it takes time to find remedies to the problems; it takes even more time to heal. We made decisions for this day, but other days lie ahead and more decisions.
For myself, the end of the meeting marked the close of my tenure as Council Chair. I was deeply touched to receive a lovely departing gift from the Conference which came from our own RK Woods here in Hilo. As I said to our Conference Minister, the Rev. Dr. David Popham, I wish that we’d made more progress on some of the difficult questions we’ve faced in the last four years. Given that I was elected to the position toward the beginning of a global pandemic, however, I feel we did well.
May we make use of the time we’re given to learn, to consider, and to heal.
In peace,
Pastor Eric
Photo of the Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson by Eric Anderson.
