KANI KANI PELE
The Monthly Newsletter of Kailua United Methodist Church Volume XVIII, No. 40 December, 2015
1110 Kailua Road, Kailua , HI 96734 “Making Disciples of Christ from All Generations”
Christmas Songs
We are now in the midst of
Advent, which is the start of the
New Year in the Chris�an
calendar. It is the season of four
weeks leading up to Christmas.
The term comes from the La�n
adventus, which means
“coming.” In Advent we prepare
ourselves for the “comings” of
Christ – whose birth we prepare to celebrate once
again, whose presence comes to us through the
Word and Spirit, and whose return in final victory
we an�cipate.
So in Advent we prepare ourselves for Jesus’
coming. We get ready to meet Jesus Christ. We get
ready to welcome him into our world and into our
lives.
My favorite Advent hymn is “Come Thou Long
Expected Jesus:”
Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy
people free;
from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest
in thee.
Israel’s strength and consola�on, hope of all the
earth thou art;
dear desire of every na�on, joy of every longing
heart.
When we sing, “Come thou long expected Jesus,”
we really mean it. We really are wai�ng,
an�cipa�ng, and longing for Jesus to come: “Jesus,
just as you came to Mary and Joseph and the
shepherds, come to us. Just as you showed up in
Bethlehem, show up in Kailua and across Oahu.”
The season of Advent teaches us that we need to
prepare ourselves to receive him; we need to get
ready. Some�mes we ask each other, “Are you
ready for this?” That’s the ques�on of Advent: Are
you ready for this? Are you ready for the birth of
someone who turns the world upside down? Are
you ready for the arrival of someone who makes all
things new?
Our message series during Advent is Christmas
Songs. In the first two chapters of Luke’s gospel, we
find four songs of Christmas, and we’re going to
look at each of these songs in this series: Mary’s
song - The Magnificat, Zechariah’s song - The
Benedictus, Simeon’s song - Nunc Dimi'us, and the
Angels’ song - Gloria in Excelsis,
I hope that you can join us as we come together to
sing and live these Christmas songs.
One way we’ll be doing that is by, once again,
collec�ng a special Christmas offering. We’re calling
it our “Joy to the World Offering” because it is our
way of celebra�ng Christmas in a way that honors
Jesus – making it less about stuff and more about
good news of great joy for all people. This year we
are designa�ng 25% of this offering to the Beacon of
Hope House for the life-transforming work it does
with women coming out of prison and 75% to the
Praise Worship Center in India for electricity in their
new building and tables for their a>er-school
program. 100% of the money that we receive at our
Christmas Eve services will go to this special
offering.
Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let us prepare
our hearts to receive our King,
Longing for Jesus,
Pastor Tim
The Kani Kani Pele (The “Ringing Bell” in Hawaiian) page 2
Aloha and Mahalo to Pastor Samuel Cox
Since 2001, Pastor Samuel Cox has served Kailua UMC faithfully as our part-�me visita�on pastor. On January 1, 2016,
he will re�re and will accept a new role as an Elder Pastor in the California-Pacific Conference serving the Hawaii District.
Although he expects to con�nue to be an ac�ve volunteer associate KUMC member, he also plans to devote more �me
to his passion for social jus�ce issues.
This passion began in his teen years when he was ac�ve in the civil rights movement and has con�nued to his most
recent outreach ministry, Beacon of Hope Transi�on House, with KUMC the host church. The mission of the Beacon of
Hope House is to demonstrate that churches can be an entryway into the community for women leaving prison. Now in
its third year, he hopes this ministry will con�nue for many years.
Pastor Samuel came to Hawaii in 1965 from Japan where he worked as a social work missionary with the Methodist
Board of Missions for five years. In Hawaii he served as the Execu�ve Director of Moiliili Community Center for nine
years establishing one of the largest a>erschool programs for children in the State. He also was a member of Keolumana
UMC when it met at Keolu Elementary School.
In 1976 he helped found and then directed Hale Kipa for Runaway and Homeless Youth for 23 years, with support by a
dozen churches. A>er his re�rement, he was invited by Pastor Tom Choi to be Part-�me Visita�on Pastor for Kailua
UMC. About the same �me he was also appointed Director of Chris�an Unity and Religious Affairs for the Hawaii District
by the then District Superintendent Rev. Babs Ripple for 6 years.
As Director of Chris�an Unity and Inter Religious Affairs, he helped organize the Bridges for Jus�ce and Compassion that
included Buddhists, Jewish, Muslim, Bahai as well as Chris�ans. This later became the Interfaith Alliance Hawaii (TIAH)
whose purpose was to “promote interfaith dialogue and community coopera�on”. TIAH s�ll sponsors three interfaith
forums per month that meet at Harris UMC, First Unitarian, and now Pohai Nani.
The dedica�on, so evident in Pastor Samuel’s everyday living, has also been recognized by awards over the years from
various community organiza�ons:
Life�me Achievement Award - Na�onal Youth Services Network 1998
Hawaii Social Worker of the Year 1998
Hawaii Living Treasure, Honpa Hongwanji 2008
Mar�n Luther King Peacemaker Award 2014
Flame of Hope Award, Interfaith Alliance Hawaii 2014
Pastor Samuel says the past 13 years with Kailua UMC have truly been a blessing and a �me of con�nued growth for him.
He considers it a privilege to have provided pastoral care for a host of our elderly members in hospice, hospitals, and
care home seOngs including Pohai Nani. Many of these members have now passed away. These include some of his able
volunteer assistants including Kaye Wuest, Marge Kuba, Al Temple, Red Miller and Bob Hockaday. He s�ll considers them
to be his mentors who s�ll guide him.
We consider it a privilege to have benefited from his hearPelt commitment in the life of our church ohana. Although he
will no longer be serving in an official capacity at KUMC, we look forward to Pastor Samuel and Babs con�nued
par�cipa�on, encouragement and wisdom.
The Kani Kani Pele (The “Ringing Bell” in Hawaiian) page 3
December Birthdays
If you are interested in the
December birthdays, please call
the church office at 261-6238
PARSONAGE CHRISTMAS PARTY
Sunday, December 20th
2:00-5:00 p.m.
Drop by the parsonage throughout the a>ernoon
and enjoy pupus, hot apple cider and singing your
favorite Christmas carols.
Hope to see you there!
Please join us for our Christmas Eve services
Come early to join in the carol sing before each service
6:30 p.m. Brass & Choir 9:00 p.m. Handbells & Choir
Candlelight circle on the lawn at both services
The Kani Kani Pele (The “Ringing Bell” in Hawaiian) page 4
KUMC OFFICE HOLIDAY CALENDAR
Thursday, December 24—8 a.m. to noon
Friday, December 25—closed
Thursday, December 31—8 a.m. to noon
Friday, January 1—closed
Mele Kalikimaka
Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!
GIVING TREE
You will again have an opportunity to provide
support to families on Oahu through the Giving
Tree this year. Deborah Tom will have names a>er
worship service. She will have families served by
Kapiolani Mobile Therapy Team. These are
families with medically fragile children with special
needs. Please come see her outside a>er
worship and help make
Christmas for these
families MERRY! Gi>s
need to be wrapped and
brought to church by
Sunday, December 6th at
the latest. If you have
any ques�ons you may
call her at 728-9993.
Mahalo.
KUMC CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS PROGRAM
December 13th during worship service
Please join us for a “Celebra�on of the Birth of Jesus” as the children of KUMC share this
important celebra�on with our congrega�on. Parents, please be sure your children aTend
Sunday School for the next four Sundays so they can learn the Christmas carols and
par�cipate in our program. We’ll have one dress rehearsal – Saturday, Dec 12th
from 9:00 –
11:00 am in the sanctuary to try on costumes and hone our singing voices! We are looking
for help to make 20-25 goody bags for the children who are involved in the program. Please
contact Cindy Ellington ([email protected]) if you are able to help. Thank you!
The Kani Kani Pele (The “Ringing Bell” in Hawaiian) page 5
DID YOU KNOW? YOUR KUMC FOUNDATION
Just a giving, tax wise thought this 2015 year: The end of 2015 is
near. It is �me before the holiday season gets too busy, to focus on your
gi>ing and future 2015 tax concerns. Dona�ng to a new or
exis�ng KUMC Founda�on Trust will help others in your church ohana
or outside, per your request. In other terms, gi>ing now before
December 31st may benefit you on April 15th. Remember, gi>ing may
be of benefit to you and your owed taxes by dona�ng cash,
appreciated stock, and depreciated stock.
Please, if you have ques�ons, ask your church peers on your KUMC Founda�on. They are:
Chairman Don Raymond, and members, Jerry Allen, Tim Fern, Ann McBirnie, Larry Marcum, John
Kojima and Pastor Tim.
REMINDER FOR YEAR END GIVING
KUMC is so grateful to all
of you for your generosity
this year and every year.
According to the IRS,
December 31st, 2015 is the
date on which all donors
must deliver to KUMC or mail
(postmarked) all
contributions in order to
claim a Charitable Deduction towards income taxes
in 2015. The IRS is very strict and even if the check
is predated to 2015 or was actually written in 2015,
unless it has a postmark of no later than December
31st, our counters cannot include it on your 2015
giving statement. Mahalo for your kokua and thank
you again for your support. We hope this makes
the ruling a bit clearer.
Kailua United Methodist Church
1110 Kailua Road Kailua HI 96734 (808) 261-6238 (voice), 262-2066 (FAX) E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.KailuaUMC.org RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
TH
E L
AS
T W
OR
D
“No
ma
tter w
ho o
r wh
ere yo
u a
re, the
story o
f Jesu
s, from
the fee
din
g-tro
ug
h in
B
eth
lehem
to th
e e
mpty to
mb a
nd
beyo
nd
, can
beco
me yo
ur sto
ry”.
~ N
.T. W
righ
t