Sunday Worship Services:
Our services are live-streamed on Facebook every Sunday at 9:00 a.m.
COMMUNITY MEAL at St. Augustine's will be served using a drive-through format to ensure the safety of our guests and servers. Kohala area community partners have joined with St. Augustine volunteers to provide a hot meal for the community at 4:30 'til pau on these dates:
October 19th
November 2nd & 16th
December 7th & 21st
We ask that folks plan to arrive no earlier than 4:00 p.m.
October 19th
November 2nd & 16th
December 7th & 21st
We ask that folks plan to arrive no earlier than 4:00 p.m.
For further information, contact:
vicardiana@staugustineskohala.com
vicardiana@staugustineskohala.com
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Join us for a Spooktacular Night at our Halloween Trick or Treat Drive Thru
on October 31, 2020 from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm!
on October 31, 2020 from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm!
A message from Vicar Diana
October 2, 2020
October 2, 2020
October 2, 2020
Dear St. Augustine’s Ohana,
In our most recent conversation about my departure from St. Augustine’s, John Sakai (Bishop’s Warden) and I talked about the future of this congregation. I could feel the familiar anticipation and excitement I have felt over the years in our many conversations about where we are going, or more precisely: what/where is God calling us to?
One of the signs of a healthy body of Christ-the gathering of the baptized-is optimism and eagerness to engage in the holy work of the faithful. Optimism and eagerness flow from hope. At our core, Christians are a hopeful people. We believe in a God whose love surpasses our understanding, and this is a profoundly hopeful lens through which to see the world.
The optimism and eagerness that hope inspires cannot sustain itself without the gift of courage. Courage is a gift, I believe, because courage born of faith is not about physical strength or fearlessness or mental training. It is not something we can summon by sheer force of will. Courage, the kind that Jesus exemplified, comes from a sure and certain confidence that God’s abundant love and grace will never leave us, will never desert us, even in times of great strife and weariness.
The ministries of St. Augustine’s are evidence of hope grounded in courage. And here I’m referring not only to the Community Meal and Thrift Shop, I’m referring to the ministry of leadership: our Bishop’s Committee members, the Chairs of our various Committees, the invited guests who faithfully attend the BC meetings to offer wisdom, perspective and insight, and our emerging leaders who are showing up where and when they can. All of these ministries require the essential element of leadership that is collaborative, appreciative, hopeful, eager, optimistic and courageous.
If I’ve learned anything in my decades of being a priest, it’s that I cannot be an effective leader if I am afraid to get into the mix of human imperfection-mine and yours. I admire and celebrate the leaders in the St. Augustine’s ohana. You demonstrate courage that emphasizes being engaged and working together instead of needing to be right or above reproach. Effective leaders don’t focus on being perfect; effective leaders are well aware of their imperfections and focus on staying in relationship in order to do good work together.
I believe the best way to live into courageous leadership is to remember that our baptism calls us to stay in relationship with each other through reconciliation (self-awareness and forgiveness), to stay in relationship with God through confession (we are called to be penitent not perfect), to make God’s love known to others (respect the dignity of all and strive for justice and peace among all).
A contemporary voice that is an inspiration for many on the subject of vulnerability and courageous leadership says this about courage:
“A lot of cheap seats in the arena are filled with people who never venture onto the floor. They just hurl mean-spirited criticisms and put-downs from a safe distance. The problem is, when we stop caring what people think and stop feeling hurt by cruelty, we lose our ability to connect. But when we’re defined by what people think, we lose the courage to be vulnerable. Therefore, we need to be selective about the feedback we let into our lives. For me, if you’re not in the arena getting your ass kicked, I’m not interested in your feedback.”
— Brené Brown, Rising Strong: The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution
It is vitally important to live into the courage that inspires faith-filled leaders who are not only in the “arena” but who remain there because, despite the struggles, it is where the Holy Spirit is alive and working through us to reflect Christ in the world.
Blessings and peace,
Vicar Diana
Dear St. Augustine’s Ohana,
In our most recent conversation about my departure from St. Augustine’s, John Sakai (Bishop’s Warden) and I talked about the future of this congregation. I could feel the familiar anticipation and excitement I have felt over the years in our many conversations about where we are going, or more precisely: what/where is God calling us to?
One of the signs of a healthy body of Christ-the gathering of the baptized-is optimism and eagerness to engage in the holy work of the faithful. Optimism and eagerness flow from hope. At our core, Christians are a hopeful people. We believe in a God whose love surpasses our understanding, and this is a profoundly hopeful lens through which to see the world.
The optimism and eagerness that hope inspires cannot sustain itself without the gift of courage. Courage is a gift, I believe, because courage born of faith is not about physical strength or fearlessness or mental training. It is not something we can summon by sheer force of will. Courage, the kind that Jesus exemplified, comes from a sure and certain confidence that God’s abundant love and grace will never leave us, will never desert us, even in times of great strife and weariness.
The ministries of St. Augustine’s are evidence of hope grounded in courage. And here I’m referring not only to the Community Meal and Thrift Shop, I’m referring to the ministry of leadership: our Bishop’s Committee members, the Chairs of our various Committees, the invited guests who faithfully attend the BC meetings to offer wisdom, perspective and insight, and our emerging leaders who are showing up where and when they can. All of these ministries require the essential element of leadership that is collaborative, appreciative, hopeful, eager, optimistic and courageous.
If I’ve learned anything in my decades of being a priest, it’s that I cannot be an effective leader if I am afraid to get into the mix of human imperfection-mine and yours. I admire and celebrate the leaders in the St. Augustine’s ohana. You demonstrate courage that emphasizes being engaged and working together instead of needing to be right or above reproach. Effective leaders don’t focus on being perfect; effective leaders are well aware of their imperfections and focus on staying in relationship in order to do good work together.
I believe the best way to live into courageous leadership is to remember that our baptism calls us to stay in relationship with each other through reconciliation (self-awareness and forgiveness), to stay in relationship with God through confession (we are called to be penitent not perfect), to make God’s love known to others (respect the dignity of all and strive for justice and peace among all).
A contemporary voice that is an inspiration for many on the subject of vulnerability and courageous leadership says this about courage:
“A lot of cheap seats in the arena are filled with people who never venture onto the floor. They just hurl mean-spirited criticisms and put-downs from a safe distance. The problem is, when we stop caring what people think and stop feeling hurt by cruelty, we lose our ability to connect. But when we’re defined by what people think, we lose the courage to be vulnerable. Therefore, we need to be selective about the feedback we let into our lives. For me, if you’re not in the arena getting your ass kicked, I’m not interested in your feedback.”
— Brené Brown, Rising Strong: The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution
It is vitally important to live into the courage that inspires faith-filled leaders who are not only in the “arena” but who remain there because, despite the struggles, it is where the Holy Spirit is alive and working through us to reflect Christ in the world.
Blessings and peace,
Vicar Diana
"...some musings... " is an occasional reflection by Vicar Diana.
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