April 2025 – Reflections from David & Jonathan
- Hawai‘i Conference Office
- Apr 30
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 19
Our Conference Minister, David Popham, and Associate Conference Minister, Jonathan Roach, take turns sharing reflections each week in our Coconut Wireless e-newsletter. Read their reflections for the month of April 2025 here!
A Tent of Our Own Making
David K. Popham, Conference Minister
Last week, April 23 – 25, Karen Georgia Thompson, General Minster and President of the United Church of Christ (UCC), hosted a gathering in Cleveland, Ohio for the purpose of exploring the big tent of the UCC. Thompson noted how the UCC is representative of a diverse group with diverse experiences and diverse opinions, and she invited those present to explore what this diversity looks like and means for the denomination.
The Hawai'i Conference was represented on three panels. The first two panels were titled "This is Us" and gave attention to affinity groups within the UCC. Kenneth Makuakāne and Josann Jenks were voices for Hawaiians. Jenks also represented PAAM (Pacific Islander and Asian American Ministries). Before a room of 53 people, affinity groups were able to share their stories, challenges, and opportunities within the UCC.
A third panel focused on the challenges and opportunities presented by the multiplicity of diversity within the UCC. I was one of two Conference Ministers asked to be on this panel as our Conferences represent leading edges in multi-cultural, multi-racial ministry. You can read more about that panel discussion and the larger gathering HERE.
Within this gathering all the ways of identifying within the UCC were present: theologically, ethnically, justice orientation, gender and affective orientation, church experience, and longevity in the UCC. Together we explored the space of the big tent and the ins and outs of being a big tent denomination.
Easter Greetings
David K. Popham, Conference Minister
In a time when uniformity is prized over diversity, may we recognize that our beauty lies in the great variety of expressions of Easter joy represented in the rich cultural fabric of the Hawai'i Conference. May we all take pride in the mixture of ways in which we express our faith, whether it be through hymns, contemporary songs, hula, or quiet reflection, as well as the Pentecost of languages which intone: "Christ is Risen!" and its corresponding response: "Christ is risen indeed!"
As we celebrate the beauty of creation and the interconnectedness of all things, we recognize that we are part of a larger tapestry woven together by devotion to God and grace to all. May Easter, with its profound message of hope and renewal brought forth by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, be a time of new beginnings and a reminder that life triumphs over despair as love triumphs over fear.
The Conference Office extends our love and gratitude to the Hawai'i Conference 'ohana. This Easter, as we unite around the Hawaiian values of mālama (to care for), pono (righteousness), and kuleana (responsibility), may we embody compassion and respect for everyone.
The blessings of Easter be upon each of you, fill your hearts with hope, and inspire you to live out the values of our Christian faith.
Hau'oli Lā Pakoa (Happy Easter)!
The Power of Living Tradition
Jonathan Roach, Associate Conference Minister
In January, a friend from Church of the Holy Cross in Hilo called me. She asked me if I had an idea of what to do with a shoebox of audiotaped interviews with some of the last Issei members of Holy Cross from 1984. Later that day, I reached out to the Congregational Library and Archives. Their Executive Director got back within hours to say he was very interested in a project to preserve and make this valuable information available.
The project that is taking shape is a "Digital Archive of Voices of Japanese Congregationalism." It would include digital copies of audio, video, photographs, and documents that tell the stories of Japanese Congregationalism. And this project now includes congregations on Hawai'i Island, Kaua'i, Maui, O'ahu, California, Utah, and other invitations are out. (If you are interested in joining or if you have other possible projects to celebrate the incredible diversity of our Conference, call me.)
The living tradition of our faith is vital for a healthy, growing congregation. This is not dusty old history or dead traditionalism that only does things because that is how they have always been done; rather, this is the embodied practice of being Christian. Living tradition empowers us to learn from the mistakes of the past or be inspired by the faithfulness of our ancestors in the faith.
On Sunday, we celebrate Palm Sunday, a tradition rooted in the gospels and celebrated in many ways for over 1,700 years that calls us to walk in the footsteps of our ancestors in faith. Let us be empowered!
