2025 Pastoral Leaders Retreat

30 participants stood on the shore and were called into the deep. We dove down deep… journeying together as we were surprised and encouraged by our time together. Our leaders were Larissa Marks and Kumu Manulani Meyer who showed us the importance of deep listening. As much as we wanted to continue to explore the deep, we returned to the shore, refreshed and renewed with so much gained (and still needing to process!).

We are extremely thankful for the financial support of this retreat from: The Formation Missional Team, the United Church Funds for a grant from the Brown Endowment, and Hawaiʻi Island Association who gave additional funding. Through the generous support, we were able to offer this retreat at a highly subsidized rate and send everyone home with a book for further study.

In addition, we are thankful for the generous hospitality from Waialua UCC who offered a comfortable space at the beginning of the retreat. We also had a few adventures and we are thankful for our time at the following places: Little Plumeria Farms, the Benedictine Monastery Hawaii, and Lili‘uokalani Protestant Church.

The retreat was a rich time of fellowship, worship, learning, and laughter. Friendships were strengthened and new ones formed. We received new insights and were challenged in our thinking. We shared stories and enjoyed the beauty at God’s creation around us. We were blessed by this time together.

Photos by David Popham