Join the LCH youth and family outing to Wet‘n’Wild on Sunday, July 31, from 10:30 am to 5:00 pm. All are welcome! LCH youth attend for free. The cost for adults and guests is $22.00. Register with Georgine Stark, Sunday mornings in the courtyard or by email at thedgduo@hotmail.com. Look for information updates in the LCHNews and HeartBeat newsletter.
Category Archives: Congregational Life
LCH Workday at Habitat for Humanity (July 16)
On July 16, the people of LCH will participate in an all-day house-building project with Honolulu Habitat for Humanity! Honolulu Habitat has partnered with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and Darleen Kaniho to build a new home on a beautiful lot in Papakōlea, the Hawaiian Home Lands development located on the back slope of Punchbowl.
Participants will have a great workout pounding nails, maybe installing windows and doors, maybe even painting. It will be a fun day and no experience is necessary! Please note, you must be at least 16 years old to participate.
For those who aren’t able or don’t want to build, LCH has also signed up to provide lunch that day, and we need a few people to prepare and serve lunch to the volunteers and staff. There are no age restrictions for lunch providers.
An informational meeting will be held July 10, after worship. We’ll discuss the Habitat model and why homeownership works for low income families. Contact Jean Lilley through the LCH office 808-941-2566 or at jelilley@gmail.com for more information.
Summer Gatherings Emphasize ELCA Project (July 3 & 24 and August 7)
Over the course of the summer months, LCH will join thousands of ELCA congregations in participating in Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton’s church-wide initiative “Called Forward Together in Christ.” The initiative is an ongoing conversation taking place at every level in the ELCA including the church-wide office, seminaries, synods, regions, and congregations. The intent is to shape the future of our ministry in light of God’s call, the cultures in which we find ourselves, and the current economic and ecologic realities of a changing world.
At our congregational level, we hope to engage in conversation about emerging ideas for ministry and engagement in our neighborhood, community, and membership.
In a moment of madness we came up with a plan. On the dates listed above, we will worship from 9:15 to 9:45 am. Immediately following the worship service, we will gather in the courtyard to share a light brunch—food will be provided—and engage in conversation. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate. This should be a truly fun, energetic, and meaningful time of conversation about how God is working in our midst, and how we hope to be at work and prayer in God’s midst. Please plan to be there!
Requiem and Hope: A Service for Olando (June 19 • 7:30 pm)
Please join the LCH community in meditation, prayer, and music. Together we will mourn, pray, and honor the dead as a united community in the wake of this tragedy. Our service will include selections from the Gregorian Mass for the Dead, featuring men from the LCH Choir and cantors.
“These victims had their futures stolen … their dreams stolen … their potential contributions stolen from us all… Hate and separation continue to bring forth too much grief, too many stolen lives across the world. May we also have the strength to address and deal with the roots of hatred that target any minority community with violence anywhere in the world.”—The Harvey Milk Foundation.
Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend this service as a sign of support for the victims in Orlando, and in solidarity with the LGBTQI community.
Meals for the Hungry
Each month members of the LCH ‘ohana provide food for hungry people on the island of O‘ahu. You’re invited to be part of this important ministry.
On Friday, May 20, we provide the evening meal at the Institute for Human Services (IHS) in ‘Iwilei. For more than 25 years, folks from LCH have shopped for, prepared, and served a special dinner on the third Friday of each month for as many as 300 individuals. The cost is underwritten by the LCH budget and by a grant from the German Benevolent Society of Hawaii. Shoppers, cooks, and servers are needed each month.
If you’d like to participate on May 20, contact Jimmy Castro through the Church Office (808-941-2566). The cooks begin work at 1:00 pm, and the meal is served at 5:30 pm.
In the picture on the right, volunteers slice the meatloaf and prepare to serve the guests at IHS.
On Saturday, May 28, folks from LCH and other churches from the ELCA’s Hukilau conference and other denominations in One Pot One Hope and prepare lunches for the homeless in Wai‘anae. The lunches consist of chili and rice, fresh fruit, granola bars, and water, and most recently, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The volunteers feed between 100 and 125 people each month.
On May 28 (and on the last Saturday of each month) the carpool leaves LCH at 9:15 am and returns around 1:00 pm. In addition to helping out on the last Saturday, members can support this mission outreach project by bringing donations of designated items (gallon-sized cans of chili from Costco, fruit, granola bars, bottled water, peanut butter, jelly, and recycled grocery bags) and checks (payable to “One Pot One Hope”) to church on the third Sunday of the month.
Contact Peggy Anderson through the Church Office (808-941-2566) for more information.
Book and Media Exchange (May 7)
Join us on Saturday, May 7, for a free book and media exchange! Bring your used books, CDs, and DVDs—fiction, non-fiction, children’s, cookbooks, travel guides—all genres welcome. Feel free to browse and take home titles that catch your eye. Books remaining at the close of the event will be donated to the Friends of the Library.
This event takes place from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm in the Hörmann Courtyard and will be open to the local community as well. Contact Hope Jahren via the LCH office for more information.
Earth Day (Sunday, April 24)
For many years, the Lutheran Church has observed Earth Day, in April, with special projects and worship. Sunday, April 24, is our 2016 Earth Day celebration.
The liturgy at both the 8:00 and 10:30 am services will be adapted to emphasize our communion with the earth, and in the face of climate change, the need to better care for the whole planet. Our theme this year is Trees for the Earth.
In addition to focused worship, there will be activities for children and an adult forum class.
25th Annual Honolulu AIDS Walk
LCH will once again field a team for the Life Foundation Honolulu AIDSWALK.
Pastor Jeff is the President of the Board of Directors for this organization that is Hawai‘i’s largest provider of services for persons living with HIV/AIDS.
This year, our team hopes to raise $5,000 in support of Life Foundation. How can you help? Visit our Team Site to:
- Join our team and enlist friends and strangers to donate via your page, or
- Donate to the team or a member of the team.
Children’s Benefit Concert a Great Success
The children of LCH offered their annual benefit concert on Saturday, March 5, at 4:00 pm in the LCH Nave. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the children’s very own fundraising concerts.
As iIn years past, the children sang and performed on trumpet, violin, cello, organ, and piano. The photo at right shows the F.R.O.G.S. Choir singing “ Peace Life a River” and “Kumbaya” at the beginning of the concert Additional photos are available inn the slideshow below.
The beneficiary of donations at the concert and from others who could not attend is the ELCA Good Gifts program. The children ask the members of the congregation to make a pledge od $1 a day during Lent which will be added to the money children have contributed during Sunday School. After the concert, the Sunday School will decide which particular gifts to fund. The Good Gifts program enables individuals or groups to sponsor gifts of farm animals, clean water, health care, and education to help communities around the world transcend poverty and hunger. This tradition offers our children a chance to practice stewardship by donating their time and talent toward a worthy cause and a chance for adults in the congregation to model stewardship for the children by making contributions in connection with the concert.
If you were not able to attend the concert and would like to be part of this effort, donations are welcome through Easter Sunday.
Lenten Suppers and Worship (Wednesdays beginning Feb. 17)
The serving line for Wednesday evening soup and salad suppers.Each Wednesday evening during the season of Lent, members and friends of LCH will gather for table fellowship and worship.
The evenings begin with a light supper of soup, salad, and bread beginning at 6:00 pm. The meal is provided by volunteers, and all are welcome to join in fellowship and conversation around the table. If you feel moved to contribute to the meal, please sign up in the courtyard on Sunday morning.
Worship follows the meal at 7:00 pm using the music and prayerful song from Marty Haugen’s Holden Evening Prayer. This year’s worship will focus on feminine images of God through Bible lesson drawn from the prophets, wisdom literature, and the Gospels and through meditations prepared by members of our Writers’ Workshop. This focus was suggested by our Jahreslosung (“year verse”), “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you” (Isaiah 66:13). The Jarreslosung was introduced during German Vespers on New Year’s Day.
As we all move forward on our Lenten journey and prepare for Easter joy in the resurrection, all are invited to come together at the table, to be fed and nourished in body and soul, and to worship together as a faith community.
The cantors place the lighted candle at the beginning of worship.