First United Methodist Church

1020 South Beretania Street

Honolulu, Hawaii 96814-1492

(808) 522-9555 Fax (808) 528-3992

Email: Ofiice@Firstumchonolulu.org

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Church Leaders & Staff

Resident Bishop:

Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño

District Superintendent:

Rev. Dr. Thomas Choi

Co-pastors:

Rev. Amy C. Wake

Rev. Linita ‘U. Moa

Church Secretary/Office Mgr.

Paini Harris

Choir Directors:

Tupou Seini Kelemeni, Fololiena Maka

Pianist:

Petra Peršolja

Custodians:

Heamasi Koli, Pat Sheppard

Newsletter editor: Sandra Mactagone

Please join us, everyone is welcome!

Sunday, September 21st

10:00AM, Joint Worship Service

11:00AM, All Church Meeting

to discuss the sanctuary renovation

12 Noon, Joint Luncheon

DARE TO DREAM Visioning process for First UMC Honolulu

Who are we and where are we going?

What does God want First UMC to do in the next 10-15 years?

How will we change our facilities to meet those needs?

What will bring the gospel, the Good News, to our community?

How will our renovations fit into the City & County’s plans to revitalize this area?

How will we care for our resources, now and in the future?

What can we do to make disciples of Jesus Christ

for the transformation of the world?

Join us as we form our future and dare to dream!

October 2014 to March 2015

We will be reading the book “Dare to Dream: Creating a God-sized Mission Statement for

your Life”* by Mike Slaughter (2014 Britt Lecturer) and having discussions in small groups to

expand the dream to include our church. Groups will meet 6 times to discuss the 6 chap-

ters of the book. Group leaders will gather the information to share with our church leaders.

March 2015 to April 2015 (Lent)

The whole church will enter a time of prayer and discernment about our vision. Daily devo-

tional books will be provided.

April 2015 (after Easter)

We will have a retreat to vision NEW LIFE at First UMC. Professional facilitator Lily Bloom Do-

mingo will lead us. By the end of this bi-lingual retreat, we will have a vision for our future.

This vision will be shared at the following Joint Worship Service.

Summer 2015

The Building Committee, Trustees, and Church Council will take this vision and translate it to

architectural plans for our main office, education and community building renovation. The

Finance, Trustees, and CRF committees will take this vision and develop a long-term plan to

care for our resources. The programming and outreach committees will take this vision and

create new programs for our church and community.

* Dare to Dream, Creating a God-Sized Mission Statement for Your Life, © 2013 Abingdon Press

“Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World”

1020 S. Beretania Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96814 Volume XXXII Issue 21 September 2014

FOCUS a Newsletter of first United Methodist Church

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Pastor’s Pen 'Oku tau a'u mai 'eni ki he mahina Sepitema mo e 'amanaki ke tali 'a e ui mo'ui 'a e 'Otua ki si'i ngaahi fa'e kotoa pe 'o e Siasi pea pehe foki ki he Kakai Fefine pea mo e kau fiemui foki, 'aia 'oku nau kau kotoa ki he va'a ngaue 'a e Kakai Fefine he Kuata ko'eni. Pea 'oku tau fakafeta'i ai ki he Tu'i 'o e Langi he ko e Taukei ia 'o e hala fonon-ga ni, pea mo'oni pe 'a e Kaveinga Folau 'o e mahina ni, Ko Sihova 'a Ikuna'anga 'o e Fononga. 'I he mahina ko 'eni 'oku tau teuteu ai ki he ngaue lahi 'a e Siasi kotoa, fa-kataha 'a e kakai Tonga mo e kau Palangi, ko e fokotu'utu'u ngaue, pe visone ki he kaha'u 'o hotau Siasi pe Vision-ing Process. 'I he taimi tatau 'e lahi 'a e ngaahi liliu langa 'I hotau ngaahi kaunga'api pe komiuniti ko'eni, ko ia 'I he taimi tatau 'oku tau ngaue ki he monomono hotau Falelotu, pea ka lava ia, 'e ho-ko mai ki he fale ko'eni 'oku 'iai 'a e K-Hall mo e ngaahi 'ofisi 'o e Siasi. Ko ia ai 'oku faka'amu ke tau kau fakataha he teuteu ki he'etau ngaahi ngaue ko'eni, pea mo e visone ki he kaha'u 'o ho-tau Siasi. Ko e founga 'o e Ngaue ki he Visone ko'eni 'e vahevahe 'a e Siasi ki he ngaahi Kulupu iiki, pea 'I he ngaahi Kulupu iiki ko ia 'e 'iai ai 'a e Kulupu Fakatonga 'aia ko e Kulupu 'a e Kakai Fefine pea mo e Kulupu 'a e Kakai Tangata. 'E liliu kotoa 'a e ngaahi me'angaue (resources) 'oku ngaue'aki ki he ngaahi Kulupu Palangi 'o fakalele Fakatonga ia, koe'uhi ke tau ngaue fakataha mo kinautolu he lea fakapalangi. Ko e ngaahi Kulupu ko'eni 'e kamata ia 'i 'Okatopa 2014 ki Ma'asi 2015. Ko e fo'i fakataha 'e 6 he vaha'a 'o e taimi ko 'eni, 10/2014-3/2015) 'e fiema'u ke fakakakato kimu'a pea te tau toki kau fakataha he fakataha fa-kakatoa (retreat) 'I 'Epeleli 2015 ke tau sio ai ki he ngaahi fakakaukau mo e visone 'oku fe'unga mo hotau Siasi. Kuo lahi pe 'a kinautolu Tonga kuo kau ki he ngaahi kulupu 'a e Kau Palangi, ka

'oku 'ata pe ke ke kau mai ki he Kulupu Fa-katonga 'o kapau 'oku ke fie kau mai ki ai. Ko e ongo Kulupu Fakatonga: Kulupu 'a e Kakai Fe-fine 'e taki ai 'a 'Asena Foliaki mo 'Ana Hungalu, pea ko e Kakai Tangata 'e taki ai 'a Pauli Takai pea mo Sione Mafoa'aeata. Fakamalo lahi atu he ngaue lahi mo e fua 'o 'etau ngaahi fatongia 'I he ngaue 'I hono Siasi. Tauange ke mou ma'u ha ivi mo e kelesi ma'u ai pe mei he 'Eiki ko Sisu Kalaisi.

'Ofa lahi mo e Lotu

Pastor Linita Moa

Visioning Process

We are excited to begin an in-depth visioning process for our congregation. There are many changes coming up in our church and community and we need to be prepared! Here is a

sample of the big picture questions we must address: What makes our church unique? What outreach programs does our communi-

ty really need? What will we do with the lease rent from Ad-

miral Thomas? How will we renovate our education/office

building? How will we reach out to our new Kaka’ako

neighbors? What ministries do we need to strengthen or

start as we invite others to join us? You can participate by joining a monthly small group discussion from October through March. Some are already established groups: SPROUTs/Dorinda Dunlap UMW/Carol Kesler Wesley Circle/Judy Olson Choir/Tupou Kelemeni Nurture Committee/Helena Ogle CRF/ Pastor Amy Fijian Fellowship/Leader TBD Lunch on the Loose/Lenley Hawksworth Adult Bible Study at 8:30am/’Utu Langi

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From Our Missionaries

August 29, 2014 Dear friends, Today is our 16th wedding anniver-sary – and we have been in Fiji for just over two weeks. To arrive at this time in Fiji’s history has been a privi-lege. For the church in Fiji, these last two weeks have been some of the most significant weeks in decades. Last week, we ar-rived just prior to the church’s celebration of 50 years of independence, and this week, we participated in the first annual conference since the untimely death of be-loved church president, Rev. Tuikilakila Waqairatu. More significantly still, this week’s conference took place just weeks before the national elections – the first to be conducted since the 2006 coup. We have seen the church struggling with its hopes and fears and witnessed its repentance, recommitment, and reclama-tion of call. These weeks have also provided us a crash course in Fijian history. The relationship between the indigenous Fijians (mostly Christian) and the Indo-Fijians (mostly Hindu) has been fraught with political tensions over the past decades. This difficult relationship can be traced back to the island’s colonial history, when the British government brought Indian laborers to work as “indentured servants” in the sugar cane fields. The conditions under which these laborers worked amount-ed to little more than slavery. For many of these fami-lies, Fiji became home. When Fiji became independ-ent, two very different populations – populations which had never intentionally chosen to make a nation to-gether - were left to resolve their differences. Today, many indigenous Fijians feel that their status as first peoples and way of life are at risk. Many Indo-Fijians feel like second-class citizens in a country in which they have lived for generations. It was, therefore, significant that in the midst of its Ju-bilee celebration, the Methodist Church in Fiji and Ro-tuma held an Agape Feast – a free dinner to which they invited people of all walks of life, races and religious creeds. The church leaders explained that, as Chris-tians, they were obligated to reach across differences with respect and love. This is an idea that the church is still working out in practice, but the seeds of a new understanding of Christian witness and evangelism are

emerging. This week, at conference, an Indo-Fijian Christian was named the Principal of Davuilevu Theo-logical College for the first time in the school’s 106-year history. This is an historic moment for the church, and It makes it all the more humbling that we will be teach-ing classes in Multicultural Education, Evangelism and preaching during this season of the college’s life. Please pray for wisdom as we prepare to begin teach-ing on September 8th. I will send along a second “update” from us that gives some of the personal joys and challenges of getting settled in a new country – there have been many of those, as you can imagine! But I didn’t want our small struggles to overshadow our testimony to the work that God is doing in this country on a much larger scale. Pray for Fiji and for all the places in the world where the church is trying to discern how to be faithful in its engagement with the world. Our presence here – right now – is a timely gift, and we are so grateful for your support. Yesterday, on a bus into Suva, I sat next to a man who had served as the butler for the last two prime minis-ters who were deposed in the 2000 and 2006 coups. Though he had been raised in a pastor’s home, he had stopped going to church because – in the midst of all this change – the church’s witness had seemed com-promised and God seemed distant. “But I think things are changing,” he said. “I think the government has learned some things… and the church has learned some things too. Sometimes your greatest struggles are what teach you the most.” As we shook hands, I encouraged him to find a worshipping community – and we both agreed to pray for peace and wisdom for Fiji as the elections draw near. Please pray with us. I leave you with his words and witness. Sometimes your greatest struggles are what teach you the most. May you see God’s presence around you today – re-gardless of your circumstance. What is God teach-ing you? With love, Jerusha, Wes, Mercy and Josiah If you would like to receive their regular newsletters, send your email address and our church name to Jerusha Neal at matsenne-al@gmail.com .

Thousands celebrate Fiji's Jubilee

Josiah riding the bus to Suva

SPROUTs SUNDAY SCHOOL

Welcome Lolohea family: In July we welcomed a new family of 10 to the Sprouts Sunday school! Please welcome the Lolohea family when you see them around the premises. Kudos to Melekaufusi Pepa for stepping up to the plate and teach the youth class. This has been a very very busy Summer for the Sunday school children, teachers, and their families. With Vacation bible school, Fami-ly picnic, Youth Day, Rally Sunday behind us, we are well on our way through this new sea-son of church school. We kicked off the Fall season with “OUT OF EGYPT—Immigration & Migration” in August and now starting “PEOPLE WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE— The Centurion & Deborah” for the month of September. The children are enjoying their new classes, new friends, new teachers and better yet learning more and exciting events in the bible and its teaching. The next round of Confirmation class—using the Credo curriculum is geared up to start on October 12 and runs through May 2015. Christmas music rehearsals have started and we appreciate your bringing the children on time. Volunteers are always needed and welcome. If you are interested in team teach-ing or helping out in the classrooms please let Tom Low or the Pastors know. We only have 60 children! Sprout of the Month: Congratulations Vaioli-ma Lolohea (1st & 2nd grade class). With diffi-culty learning the English language—Vai at-tended and participate in all class activities in the entire month of August! Vai was awarded a monetary prize for her perfect attendance and enthusiasm. Mahalo for your generous & healthy snacks: THANK YOU and MALO ‘AUPITO to these fami-lies for providing snacks in the months of July and August: ‘Eseta & ‘Apo Fonoti, Peni & Kaio-na Taufa, Kent Coarsey & Pastor Amy, Carol Kesler & Ray Snyder, Mele & Pauliasi Takai. If

anyone wants to provide snacks for the com-ing months— please let any of the Sunday school teachers know. Mahalo.

SEPTEMBER CALENDAR

Sept. 6—District Tongan Quarterly Meeting

Sept. 7—Communion

Sept. 11—Trustees Meeting, 7 p.m.

Sept. 13—All Church Work Day, 9am-1pm

Sept. 14—Medical Clinic

Sept. 14—Communion

Sept. 17—CRF Meeting, 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 18—Building Committee Mtg, 7 p.m.

Sept. 21—JOINT Worship Service, 10 a.m.

Sept. 21—All Church Meeting, 11 a.m.

Sept. 21—Join Luncheon, 12 noon

Sept. 21—Visioning Group Leaders, 7 p.m.

Sept. 25—Finance Committee Mtg, 7 p.m.

Sept. 27—Church and Society, 1 p.m.

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Church and Society/Roman SPRC/ Pastor Linita Children, Youth and Young Adults/Leaders There are already two new groups sched-uled for first Fridays at 10 a.m. and third Wednesdays at 6 p.m. Please let Pastor Amy know if you would like to join either of these groups. The young people of our church will have age-appropriate curriculum so that all gen-erations are included. The book is also being summarized in Tongan so that their small groups will discuss the same questions and be prepared for our bi-lingual visioning retreat. Please note that all participants in the April 2015 Vision Retreat must have read the book and been in a small group. If you have any questions, please see our pastors. Join us on this journey and Dare to Dream!

Pastor Amy

City Needs Your Input

The City and County of Honolulu is embarking on a master plan for the renovation of Thomas Square and we appreciate the partici-pation of First United Methodist Church in the planning process to date. We hope that FUMC will continue by contributing to the con-versation and by sharing our website with friends and colleagues. A primary goal of the renovation is to tell the important stories of Thomas Square because its history shaped Ha-wai‘i as we know it. Thomas Square was Ha-wai‘i's first park in 1850. The history includes the 1843 Restoration of the Hawaiian government, the raising of our new state flag, and the story behind our State Motto, first spoken by King

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Kamehameha III: Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ‘Āina I ka Pono, which is commonly translated as "The life of the land is perpetuated in right-eousness." We seek to renovate the park to better honor the past and activate the park for people’s use today and in future generations. We also seek to better integrate the park with its neighboring institutions of art, culture, healthcare, and education. We recognize many groups and individuals have valuable gifts to contribute to the park’s future success. Through participation via our website, you can contribute to the design process as we work toward a meaningful, his-toric, and thriving urban park. We welcome your ideas and questions about Thomas Square on our website and we invite you to share this link with your ‘ohana and those who care for this most special place. http://thomassquare.mindmixer.com/

Mahalo Nui, Chris Dacus

Executive Assistant Department of Parks and Recreation

Office of the Managing Director

Trustees Checklist

Project completed: Patching of sidewalk fronting Admiral

Thomas driveway Replacing gutter on office building lanai Fumigation of pianos Re-keying of HANO offices Maintenance and repair of AC units SEVERAL plumbing projects Replaced old garage garbage bin Trim coconut trees Project pending: Monitoring service for Fire alarm Repair of K-Hall sliding glass door

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Building Committee

We are moving forward with our sanctuary reno-vation. We have drawings from structural and electrical engineers and are applying for permits. We have already started raising money and are deciding on funds to utilize for this purpose. We expect actual construction to begin by the end of the year to address the most critical issues. Please join us for an all-church meeting on Sun-day, September 21 after the joint worship service to hear all about the plans and to give your input. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Building Committee members: Tom Low (chair), Meli Foliaki, Oli Vea, Waitemate Ungounga, Punga Likio, Paini Har-ris, and Pastors Amy and Linita.

Sanctuary Campaign

Our sanctuary was created to be a place where worship, discipleship, and outreach to the com-munity and world could be encouraged and fa-cilitated. And it has served these purposes splendidly! After 60 years of service, however, this beautiful legacy is in need of repair and renovation. For more than a year our building committee has worked with professional archi-tects and engineers to produce a detailed report on what things need to be done. Donations have already begun to come in, as well as commitments from all the organized bodies of our church to support this project (Tongan Congregation, CRF, Finance, Church Council). In addition, a large gift has been made by the family of a former member. This will be used as a matching gift for our Sanctuary Capital Campaign… every dollar you give will be matched, up to $200,000! So far the English Congregation’s Campaign has

raised $73,020 ($146,040 with the match-ing gift)! And we’ve only just begun! We are asking for your help by giving a pledge to support the work financially as the spirit moves you. Please turn in the special yellow pledge cards to the office by Septem-ber 15th. If you didn’t receive a card, please call the church office at 522-9555.

Dick Chadwick

Give Aloha SEPTEMBER 1-30, 2014 is the month when Foodland/Sack N Save/Western Union Give Alo-ha program makes it easy to sup-port some important and won-derful ministry projects around the island. Your favorite First UMC Foodbank participates every year. First UMC Foodbank (77948)

Simply use your Maika'i Card at your favorite Foodland or Sack N Save store or at any West-ern Union location when you wire/transfer money. Let the cashier know which project(s) you’d like to contribute to. You do not need the account number (see above) but it does help. Foodland and the Western Union Foundation will match each donation up to a total of at least $250,000 for all organizations combined. If total customer donations exceed $250,000, the matching gift will be divided proportion-ately among all participating organizations. (see Calculation of Matching Gifts at www.foodland.com/givealoha for details) So next time you’re food shopping, why not lend a helping hand through your generous gift. Let's not forget we are all Ohana!

Mahalo, Lissi & Dick Chadwick

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ANNOUNCEMENTS ALL CHURCH WORK DAY...please join the Trustees in a work day SATURDAY, September 13 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Lunch will be served. We have some easy projects to complete, including the replacement of ceiling tiles and light covers in the Education/Community Building. For more information, please see Mel Olson, Trustee Chair, or call the church office.

United Methodist Women Annual Celebra-tion is on Saturday, September 27 at Christ UMC.

The Na Leo O Paulele Choir practice has started for our Christmas Cantata. Please join us at 7:45 pm on Wednesdays for cantata practice, OR at 7:00 pm if you would like to join us for both choir rehearsal and cantata! This year's cantata is "Were You There On That Christmas Night?" by Lloyd Larson.

CONFIRMATION CLASS is coming this Fall for children ages 12 – 18. It will start in Octo-ber and run until May 2015. We welcome vol-unteers to be mentors or team up with another teacher. See Tom Low on Sundays or call the church office 522-9555 during the week to get more information.

Thank You

Our regular volunteers: the Paongo family, Ray Dorsey,

Roman Leverenz and Jennifer Mafua for providing special music in worship.

Ana and Henry Cocker for helping with plumbing around the church.

The UMW for hosting the reception at Wing Yung’s memorial service.

New ushers: Alex Teruya, Ben Clancy, Mike Kansanback and Dorinda Dunlap.

Altar Flowers: Connie Denning, Tom & Lucy Low and family, Wing Yung Emery’s family

Aloha Refreshments: Ikata`ane & Sue Veikoso, Temalesi Tadu and friends

To all who have contributed to the Sanctu-ary Capital Campaign! So far we have raised $73,020! If you would like to contrib-ute to the sanctuary restoration this next year, please complete a pledge card and place in the offering plate. Remember, eve-ry gift you give will be doubled by our matching fund. For more information, please see Dick Chadwick. God is good! All the time!

In Our Prayers

Please pray for: Our shut-ins: Jackie Fifita, Joan Eng, Joyce Hook, Momi Schnei-der, Katherine Minn Those with continuing health concerns: Bette Takahashi, ‘Ofa Latu, Mark Britt, David Walter,

Ma`u Ikahihifo, ‘Aunofo Koloamatangi, Ikahihifo, Vai Lolohea, Wilma Wilson, Shigeko Yamaguchi, Jo Toxvard & son, Richard Szumiel, Gene Grippin, Beverly’s father, Mele`ana Lotulelei, Bette’s sister Maria, Alex’s niece Erin. Those receiving treatment for cancer: Valerie Leverenz, Mateaki Lolohea, Ben Tim-merman’s sister, Nancy’s son Keith, Amy’s friend Gail, Roman’s sister-in-law Amanda and friend Gila. Our hearts and prayers are with: Louise Crellin in Oregon Clifford Arinaga, receiving hospice care Ray Dorsey, recovering from hospitalization The children at Shriner’s Hospital, especially

Simione, Aseri, Alvish & Ria (Fiji).

Our love and sympathy are with the family of Sean Bowling of Cookeville UMC in Tennessee. Sean was injured in a skateboarding accident on the Big Island and passed away about a week later at Queen’s.