December 17, 2025
As you receive this, Christmas Eve should be just a week away. How quickly this Advent has flown!
This weekend promises wonders: Friday night’s Community Christmas Concert, the Singalong Messiah on Saturday afternoon, and the Christmas pageant “The GOAT” on Sunday morning. A week from today, we’ll rejoice in the carols and candlelight of Christmas Eve.
That’s a lot to be thankful for. I also give my thanks to the many people who’ve made these things happen. Mahalo to all who helped decorate our sanctuary: Connie Yoshiyama and the volunteers from her pickleball classes, Janet Fujioka and her crew, Joyce and Tim Nakamoto for the Giving Tree, Eric Tanouye and the Greenpoint Nurseries employees who did the heavy lifting.
Looking ahead, I’m grateful to Gloria Kobayashi and Johanna Narruhn for working with the young people to prepare the pageant. I thank our new choir director, Bob Grove, for his hard work preparing the Holy Cross Singers for Christmas Eve, and for working with Ian McMillan on the Singalong Messiah.
I’m also grateful to the Suzuki and Shiroma families for donating the new tiles in the Building of Faith floor, which lays out a permanent pickleball court for that ongoing ministry. Thank you to the folks who contributed so generously to our Advent Devotional, especially our hardworking Office Manager, Momi Lyman. She’s done more than I could have asked – and I asked her anyway.
Mahalo to all the birds who wandered in front of my lens this year. What a blessing it’s been to experience the fiery dances of Pelehonuamea so many times. I’m grateful that I’ve had more time with family this year, though some of the time has been sad.
Most of all, I’m glad to celebrate this holy time with you, to give thanks for God’s greatest gift of all: Jesus the Christ, our Savior and Friend.
Merry Christmas!
In peace,
Pastor Eric
