First
Christian Church of
HOA
ALOHA
VOLUME
115 ISSUE 6
JUNE
NEWSLETTER
A little over four years ago, a man and his wife came through the doors of
our church. They were pleasant enough, but little did we know a
firecracker was about to be lit. Within weeks, he and his wife were
working to get our church involved in a new and promising
homeless ministry.
He amazed all with his organizational skills and focus on project
effectiveness. He then dipped his talented hands into our web site and
began to make much needed improvements. As Pastor, I am already thanking
God for him. His financial background also
uniquely enabled him to sort through and better organize our church
budget. Needless to say, he was a blessing.
Within a year of his joining our church, he went through a personal, and
nearly devastating, divorce. It was quite transformational for him to
have given so much, and then to have so much taken away. God was giving
birth to a minister. His devotion to God and to ministry, especially to
suffering people, has been evident from the beginning; however, within months,
this calling began to crystallize.
After the loss of dreams and plans, he sought to devote
himself to God, and follow His calling to full time pastoral ministry.
While I rejoiced with his decision, my heart sank, for to receive
this education, meant he would have to leave the islands. And
so with leis and prayers, and some financial
encouragement, he left us three years ago for further schooling. During these years, we have continued to support him and
pray for him, and eagerly anticipated his return.
On May 11, he took his final exam; and on May 23, he received a
Masters of Divinity from San Francisco
Theological Seminary. His accomplishment
and successful completion
is his victory, but also a victory for the First Christian Church. He
returns to the islands, June 1, and then on June 13, our small church will have
the high honor of ordaining Nicholas Kolivas into the
Gospel Ministry of Jesus Christ. He
will have come full circle, and in less than five years
since he first entered a Disciples of Christ Church, will be
ordained as a Minister.
My response, and the response of our church, is praise to God, for allowing
us a small part of the ongoing Gospel ministry, through the calling of Nick Kolivas. We thank God for Nick, for his achievement,
and for his
future
effectiveness in spreading the love and grace of Christ. We also thank
God for those among us and around us who are being called even now, and have
yet to hear it. Nick's graduation and ordination remind us that in all of
us is a calling, and we all must answer the call with
commitment and focus. This could be further schooling, or just
learning to talk to your quiet neighbor. All of us are ministers and are
being called.
We look forward to welcoming some DOC officials from the mainland, who will
arrive for the Ordination on June 13. However, it is our greatest joy to
welcome you and our neighbors each and every Sunday. God is teaching us
some important life giving truths in our service. Uplifting truths
we all need to hear, for God loves you and cares about you.
Come and see!
See ya Sunday!
Pastor Jimmy
UPCOMING
EVENTS
June 6—Board meeting at 10:00 a.m.
June 13—Ordination ceremony
for Nicholas Kolivas at 10:00 a.m. Reception to
follow.
June 21—Father’s Day.
FCC hosts Family Promise. Please see Alan F. or Tamra if you can help.
Please note: there will be no Swap Meet this month.
FAMILY
NEWS
Congratulations go out to the following
people:
Emily Egoshi—graduated from high school
in
Nicholas Kolivas—graduated from San
Francisco Theological Seminary.
Sabrina Feliciano—graduated with her Master’s from the
Welcome to the newest members of the FCC family
- Allan Pollock and Steven Oliver! Thhey joined the church on May 17.
We look forward to getting to know them better as time goes on. If
any of you are interested in church membership, please call the office to schedule a time to meet with Pastor Jimmy.
Opal Terbeek needs
our prayers as she continues to battle cancer.
We also need to remember Don Shelton, former Regional minister of the Pacific Southwest Region,
who was recently diagnosed with bladder cancer.
Al Gardner recently had surgery. He
thanks everyone for their prayers.
Lorna’s friend, Earl, is out of the hospital
and is recovering well from having hip surgery.
Lorna received an email from Fran DeCosta. Fran’s niece, Michele DeCosta,
has emerged from her coma and is able to talk to her loved ones. PRAISE
GOD!
Thanks go out to Chaplain Susy
Gaffney for filling the pulpit while Pastor Jimmy was in
NICK’S SEMINARY UPDATE
I
graduated on May 23 from seminary! We had bag pipes, and were wearing
robes and hoods, and the professors also wore their PhD hats. It was a
really lovely ceremony. I also participated in the Baccalaureate Service
on May 22. My stepfather, Brian, came from
I
also preached a sermon this past Sunday at Forest
Hill Christian Church and led the fifth of five classes on the intersection of
Buddhism and Christianity. I think we had a record attendance of fourteen
or sixteen people in this final class. Brian and Frank were also in
attendance.
I
will be ordained at our church on Saturday, June 13. An ordination
ceremony takes almost as much planning as a wedding and, for me, is the most
important day of my life. I am so grateful for all of those who have
helped with this ceremony.
I
will be spending the summer working on a book on integrating Buddhism and
Christianity. It is a huge project for me and I hope to complete a draft
of it this summer or at least make a large dent in the book. I will be
working on this from my family’s home in
Many
blessings to you all!
Nick
Kolivas
BOARD BUZZZ
Last month’s Board meeting turned into a discussion
meeting as there was not a quorum present. Focus was on Nick’s ordination
ceremony. Invitations were mailed out about a month ago. If you
plan on attending, please call
Lorna at the church office to let her know. The ceremony will take place
at FCC on Saturday, June 13, at 10:00 a.m., with a reception
to follow. As Pastor Jimmy said, this is a very
historic time for the church, so you do not want to miss this.
Another
thing discussed was the DOC
General Assembly in
The
tree on the
There
was also discussion of a “Miracle Week” happening here, where
members of various Disciples churches come together to help with projects that
need to be done, like painting, and re-paving the parking lot.
|
COOL DADDY! These inspiring examples of wit and wisdom,
written by real people based on their true-life experiences, sum up the
essence of fatherhood, and tell why our fathers will always have a special
place in our hearts. To become a
father is not hard. To be a father, however, is. Dad taught me everything I know.
Unfortunately, he didn't teach me everything he knows. My father didn't tell me how to love; he
lived, and let me watch him do it. It's easy for a father to hear himself
talking. All he has to do is listen to his children. By the time a man realizes that his father
was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong. Why are men reluctant to become fathers?
They aren't through being children yet. Having a family is like having a bowling
alley installed in your head. When your dad is mad at you and asks,
"Do I look stupid?", don't answer him. The most important thing a father can do
for his children is to love their mother! It is admirable for a man to take his son
fishing, but there is a special place in heaven for the cool dad who takes
his daughter shopping. The above quotes are from the book, Daddy Cool: Humorous and Meaningful Quotes on
Fatherhood by Tom Burns.
Copyright 2003 - Axis Publishing Ltd. |
It is that time of
year again…. SUMMER! The children are excited and
seem to be counting down the days until school is out. For me, this has
proven to be a very busy time, probably the busiest I have had this year.
With preparing my students for graduation and with my own graduation quickly
approaching, it seems as if I do not have a single
minute of spare time. Yet, I am still managing. Even when it
seems too much, I know I need to move forward.
In the excitement
of summer, I want the children to know there are
still responsibilities of being a Christian. Yes, it is fun
to go to the beach and to spend days with our friends, but we should make time
for church on Sundays.
We have planned
many fun activities for the Sunday School children
this summer, but I need the children to know that Church comes first. I
do not want them to only attend the fun events. These events are in
addition to what we do on Sundays. I feel most of the children in Sunday School understand this. I see many of them making
great efforts to attend church and they are really learning the meaning of
putting their trust in God, or, as we call it in Sunday School,
F.R.O.G. (Fully Relying On God)
I can tell this by
what I see them doing and by what the children tell me. One of the
children told me she was sick and that she could not breathe. She said
she was miserable! She remembered F.R.O.G. and said she
began to pray. She prayed for God to take away her illness
because it was hurting her. Then, she said, she felt better. That
story made me smile. I was happy she wasn’t feeling sick anymore, but
even happier that I was helping to grow
Christians.
In today’s world, I
think that is very important. If it is possible for all of us to reach
out and help someone believe in God and follow the Christian faith, even just
one person, I do think the world would be a better place.
Miss Sabrina
First
Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ)
Church
Schedule
SUNDAY SCHEDULE
Adult Sunday
School 9:30 am
Youth
Activities 10:00 am
Worship
Service 10:45 am
Glory
Church
1:00 pm
(Presented in
the Korean Language)
PRAYER REQUESTS
Opal Terbeek
Pastor Jon Bullock
Michele Walthers
Al Gardner
Ellen Stevenson
Michele DeCosta
Terry Sousa
Miguel Sayers
Gayle Silva
The Family of
Earl Stanley
Rita Pollock
Charles & Ruth
Brennan
Toraki
and Taiko Fukushima
Alex Malabey
Curtis Hughes
Anthony Mistich
Lana Sayers
Crystal Sayers
Beverly McKeague
The Glover family
Mary Ann Burtt
Susan Quimby
Isinory
Manuel & family
Ha Kyu
Hyun
Vickie Whitman
Fran DeCosta
Debbie Keli’iholokai-Moore
Karen & Mike
Johnston
Karen Johnston’s mother
David & Laura
Thompson
Janet Moon
Tamara Pomerantz
Melissa Lapinad
|
DATE |
ELDERS |
DEACONS |
WORSHIP LEADER |
|
JUNE 7 |
TIM EARHART |
TO BE ANNOUNCED |
LORNA SOONG |
|
JUNE 14 |
LORNA SOONG |
TO BE ANNOUNCED |
TIM EARHART |
|
JUNE 21 |
TIM EARHART |
TO BE ANNOUNCED |
LORNA SOONG |
|
JUNE 28 |
LORNA SOONG |
TO BE ANNOUNCED |
TIM EARHART |
June Birthdays
2 Allan Pollock
4 Tim Earhart
4 Doris Yoneshige
5 Tom Ackley
12
Joan Hudson
13
Pam Vessels
18 Opal Terbeek
20
Ha Kyu Hyun
24 Jamel
Sebbern
FIRST
CHRISTIAN CHURCH STAFF
Pastor
Jimmy Hutcherson
Secretary
Lorna Soong
Music
Mea Moon
Youth
Activities
Sabrina Feliciano
Facilities
Tamra von Blankenburg
Web
Site
Nick Kolivas
Board
Chairman ‘Terry’ Jeffrey E. Sousa
Co-Chair
Tamra von Blankenburg
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