By Pat Gee More than 40 interfaith congregations on Oahu and Maui and their allies have used their political muscle through Faith Action for Community Equity to take care of basic needs of Hawaii residents, especially the poor, sick and marginalized members of society.
By Pat Gee Katherine Crosier, who recently retired after serving as organist for the Lutheran Church of Hono­lulu for 35 years, is playing as much of the kind of music she and her husband love before she goes blind.
By Star-Advertiser staff First Unitarian Church of Hono­lulu will celebrate two milestones next week: its 60th anniversary as a certified member of the American Unitarian Association and the 100th anniversary of the completion of its Nuuanu church building.
By Pat Gee Religious fanaticism has been cited as a possible motivating factor in the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings, but fundamentalists who take a literal approach to Scripture are warping theology to justify other needs, said Tamara Albertini, a University of Hawaii associate professor who is writing a book on Islamic philosophy.
By Pat Gee Ministers who take care of everyone's needs but their own often end up needing ministering themselves.
By Pat Gee Church of the Crossroads is taking part in a 50-day nationwide campaign of caring for Earth in which its members will plant 200 trees, write letters and circulate petitions on environmental issues.
By Pat Gee The Chinese Buddhist Association of Hawaii, known for its ornate green-and-red Hsu Yun Temple in Nuuanu, celebrated its 60th anniversary by bringing in 16 monks from China to carry out elaborate ceremonies every day this week.
By Pat Gee The death of a loved one is a fork-in-the-road opportunity, advises a national speaker and writer on the mourning process.
By Pat Gee A year after her daughter died of a sudden cardiac arrest in 2009 at age 28, Sharon Maekawa started the Hawaii Heart Foundation to teach others to save lives with CPR.
By Star-Advertiser staff St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church welcomes children and adults to sign up for participation in the Aloha Music Academy workshop. The event begins April 8 and culminates with a performance April 14 at 9 a.m. at the church in Kalihi.
By Pat Gee Daphne Hookano, a former addict once convicted of selling drugs, and the Rev. Sam Cox, a soft-spoken Methodist minister, come from different backgrounds but share the same vision of transforming the lives of women once they leave prison.
By Pat Gee Sixty-three faith congregations on Oahu took in 116 homeless parents and children from off the streets last year, feeding them and helping them get back on their feet until they found stable places to live.
By Pat Gee Some Catholics are hoping that Pope Francis' empathy for the poor and his advocacy for social justice as a Jesuit priest might take the focus off hot-button political issues in which the Roman Catholic Church has become embroiled, says the Rev. Jack Ryan, who once conducted the diocese's only Spanish-language Masses on Oahu and Hawaii island.
By Star-Advertiser staff Christian Holy Week events this month begin with Palm Sunday on March 24 to celebrate the entrance of Jesus Christ into Jeru­salem, and culminate in the observance of his resurrection on Easter Sunday, March 31.
By Pat Gee The Diocese of Hono­lulu remains tight-lipped on recent lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by Catholic clergy and teachers in Hawaii, but its general response to nationwide scandals that surfaced in the past 10 years has been to acknowledge that violations have occurred, and to offer support to the victims.
By Pat Gee Spending one-on-one time with a priest in the confession booth used to be a weekly habit of devoted Catholics 40 years ago, but now the norm is attending communal penance services twice a year during the current Lent season and Advent before Christmas.
By Pat Gee The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI was on the minds of 75 Saint Francis School seniors Thursday at "Bagels with the Bishop," a series of breakfast chats between Catholic school seniors statewide and Hono­lulu Bishop Larry Silva.
By Pat Gee Sporting gold-trimmed purple robes and a broad smile, the Rev. David Gierlach stood on a bustling Chinatown street corner Wednesday, offering passers-by the rite of having black ash smeared on their foreheads.
By Star-Advertiser staff Oahu churches will take up the subject of climate change at two events this month.
By Pat Gee People with disabilities may not be able to read, hear or understand the word of God, but they still have spiritual needs that aren't met by many churches.
By Pat Gee Rabbi Peter Schaktman, whose departure from Temple Emanu-El of Honolulu in September was the result of conflicts that divided the Jewish congregation, is offering an alternative place of worship and study on Saturday mornings for people who left the temple.
By Pat Gee Kyle Kajihiro, winner of Church of the Crossroads' 2013 Martin Luther King Jr. Peacemaker Award, said his becoming a peace and justice activist was sparked by insults to his ethnicity while attending college in Oregon in the 1980s.
By Pat Gee The Kailua Hongwanji Mission hopes to begin construction next month on a new temple at its current location on Kuu­lei Road to better serve members and to provide day care to senior citizens.
By Star-Advertiser staff Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the pope's representative to the United States, will be among those attending the final tribute today to the canonization of St. Marianne Cope in Kalaupapa, Molokai.
By Star-Advertiser staff Church of the Crossroads and St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church are inviting the public to free events Jan. 21 to honor civil rights champion the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
By Star-Advertiser staff The Catholic Diocese of Hono­lulu announced it will install photovoltaic electricity systems at 22 parishes and St. Stephen Diocesan Center.
By Pat Gee For the Japanese, observing "sho­ga­tsu," or New Year's rituals, ensures an auspicious start to the next 365 days, but in Hawaii local people of all races and religions join in the custom of visiting a Shinto shrine for a blessing and to pick up a variety of elaborately fashioned good-luck charms.
By Pat Gee Instead of dreading the darkest days of the year, Neolithic pagans came to realize that the winter months would usher in longer days of sunlight — so vital to their sustenance — and they started celebrating the coming light with traditions still treasured during Christmas today.
By Pat Gee Sandra Armstrong never felt the envy some Jewish children experience when Christian friends get to open oodles of gifts, hang decorations on a fragrant tree and enjoy other glitzy festivities of Christmas.
By Pat Gee New Hope Windward's annual Christmas production, which brought 90 performers and support staff to the Kailua women's prison Wednesday evening, restores hope in those behind bars who feel society has forgotten them, inmates say.
By Pat Gee Lisia Talakai has been running around telling everyone at the Women's Community Correctional Center that she will get to celebrate Christmas with her son for the first time in 13 years, thanks to the "Star Light, Star Bright!" Christmas program.
By Pat Gee Chabad of Hawaii, Temple Emanu-El Hono­lulu and Congregation Sof Ma'arav will hold their annual Hanukkah, or Festival of Lights, celebrations over eight days beginning on the eve of Dec. 8. There will also be a community event on Maui.
By Pat Gee Sponsors of the 51st annual Nuuanu Valley Interfaith Thanksgiving this year found in U.S. Rep.-elect Tulsi Gabbard a keynote speaker whose core values of diversity, unity and service to others are shared by many religions.
By Pat Gee When King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma invited the Anglican Church to Hawaii 150 years ago, they wanted to establish a church that not only honored Jesus Christ, but one that respected Hawaiian culture and met the needs of its multi-ethnic community.
By Star-Advertiser staff Pieper Toyama, head of school at Pacific Buddhist Academy, will receive The Interfaith Alliance Hawai'i's "Flame of Hope Award" at the organization's 10th annual Awards Celebration and Dinner on Nov. 18 at Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin.
By Pat Gee The pious, compassionate side of St. Marianne Cope is well known with all the publicity surrounding her newly declared sainthood, but a play to be staged next month reveals her feisty side.
By Pat Gee Mother Marianne Cope might be the only saint to have a rap song written in her honor, thanks to two junior varsity football players at Saint Francis School.
By Star-Advertiser staff The Episcopal Church in Hawaii is inviting the public to the celebration of its 150th anniversary Nov. 9 to 11, including special speakers, a ministry fair, a new documentary showing and a festive eucharist service, mainly on the grounds of the Cathedral of Saint Andrews.
By Pat Gee The Syracuse, N.Y., woman whose recovery from multiple organ failure in 1993 was verified as one of the miracles that will elevate Mother Marianne Cope to sainthood says she is elated that Cope will be canonized Oct. 21 in Rome.
By Pat Gee Sister Margaret Antone Milho still savors the memory of looking upon the face of Mother Marianne Cope in the first moments after her skeletal remains were unearthed seven years ago at Kalaupapa.
By Star-Advertiser staff Maryknoll Sister Joanne Doi of Los Angeles will be the keynote speaker for "Transformative Journeys Towards Wellness," Oct. 13 at the Community Church of Hono­lulu, sponsored by the Sunrise Ministry Foundation.
By Star-Advertiser staff The public is invited to celebrate the 143rd birthday of Mahatma Gandhi and the International Day of Non-Violence on Tuesday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Gandhi statue outside the Hono­lulu Zoo in Waikiki.
By Star-Advertiser staff Izumo Taishakyo Mission of Hawaii is holding its 106th annual Thanksgiving Festival (Oma­tsuri) at 12:45 p.m. Oct. 7 for blessings on families, businesses and the nation at 215 N. Kukui St., across from the Chinese Cultural Plaza. The public is welcome.
By Star-Advertiser staff Visiting Rabbi Steven Chester will lead Yom Kippur services next week at Temple Emanu-El to mark the end of the High Holy Days — a 10-day period of repentance, forgiveness and judgement by God — that began Sunday with Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.
By Star-Advertiser staff The Pacific Buddhist Academy will recognize inspirational people and organizations that exemplify the leadership principles and values taught at the college preparatory school at its annual "Lighting Our Way" Awards Dinner on Sept. 28.
By Pat Gee Beginning Sunday and over the next week and a half, Temple Emanu-El and Chabad of Hawaii, Honolulu's two main synagogues, will observe Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. Events are open to the public.
By Star-Advertiser staff The Damien and Marianne of Molokai Heritage Center in Waikiki has mounted an exhibit featuring portraits taken in the early 1900s that offers a rare and compelling glimpse of life on Molokai's remote Kalaupapa peninsula for the banished victims of leprosy.
By Pat Gee Bishop Randolph Sykes, a leader in Hawaii's interfaith movement, says people need to take action in their personal lives to be part of a solution to global problems.
By Pat Gee The Rev. Kyle Ann Lovett of the Church of the Crossroads says there are about 600 laws reflecting ancient Jewish values in the Bible's Old Testament in addition to the Ten Commandments that, if broken, were punishable by death.
By Pat Gee The founders of a new Honolulu Grassroots Zen group set to open in Aina Haina next month are offering a laid-back, democratic way of practicing Buddhist meditation without using a big stick.
By Pat Gee In the last moments of a person's life, no one knows whether he or she will face death with serenity or in terror, even if he or she believes heaven is on the other side, chaplain Clarence Liu said he has found in his 40 years of ministry.
By Star-Advertiser staff More than 53 years ago, as Hawaii was poised to become the 50th state, the Rev. Abraham Akaka of Kawaiaha‘o Church delivered a sermon stressing that "Hawaii has potential moral and spiritual contributions to make our nation and to our world."
By Travis Loller MURFREESBORO, Tenn. » Muslims in the Tennessee city of Murfreesboro said Friday they hope the opening of their new mosque after more than two years of controversy will be a new beginning for relations with the community, particularly their opponents.
By Pat Gee The world knows Desmond Tutu of South Africa as a passionate fighter for justice and human dignity, and as a religious leader who has worked rigorously for peace within his nation and for people everywhere.
By Pat Gee Muthukumaru Sooriyakumar, a copper sculptor specializing in religious art, literally walked hundred of miles on the journey to finding forgiveness in his heart for the men who murdered his father more than 40 years ago.
By Pat Gee Thirty days of prayer and fasting during Ramadan a year ago brought Nazeehah Khan to a deeper level of commitment to her Islamic faith. The teenager decided to wear the "hijab," or traditional Muslim head scarf, every day as a symbol of identity.
By Pat Gee Volunteers for Hawaii's inaugural "Day of Compassion" last year say they were left with indelible impressions of how people were touched by the giant giveaway of food and services, moving them to help again.
By Pat Gee Ever since the Rev. Rodney Wong of CrossCurrent Fellowship in Manoa went to Oahu Community Correctional Center to bring comfort to inmates three years ago, he has been committed to serving behind bars.
By Star-Advertiser staff Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and a noted advocate for peace and justice, will participate in five events in Hono­lulu in August at the invitation of the Episcopal Church's Cathedral of Saint Andrew, the church announced Friday.
By Pat Gee An award-winning play about Hawaii's first saint, Damien de Veuster, will be revived at Kennedy Theatre on the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus July 28 and 29 by the Manoa Readers/Theatre Ensemble.
By Pat Gee After 35 years as music minister for Church of the Crossroads in Moiliili, Don Conover is leaving a job he has loved and will venture down new avenues as a professional entertainer.
By Star-Advertiser staff Hawaii Family Forum, Hawaii Family Advocates and the Hawaii Catholic Conference are sponsoring the Rally for Religious Liberty at the state Capitol June 30 to protest federal health care mandates on church-affiliated institutions.
By Star-Advertiser staff To raise money for leprosy patients in Hawaii to attend Mother Marianne Cope's canonization ceremony in Rome in October, the Catholic Diocese of Ho­nolulu will hold a gala benefit dinner, "Mother Marianne Cope — A Legacy of Love & Service," Aug. 4 at 4 p.m. at the Hawai‘i Convention Center.
By Star-Advertiser staff Brother Bernard Ploeger, president of Chaminade University, has been chosen to serve in Rome in July at the General Chapter meeting for the Society of Mary (Marianists), the university announced Wednesday.
By Pat Gee The Rev. Michael Lapsley once fought to free South Africans from the racism of apartheid. Now he is a wounded healer trying to help nations and individuals find freedom from their tragic pasts.
By Star-Advertiser staff The Joshua Neves Children's Foundation is sponsoring its second annual charity golf tournament July 13 at the Hawaii Prince Golf Club in Ewa Beach to support families grieving the loss of a child.
By Pat Gee The first missionaries to the islands in 1820 should be appreciated for helping the Hawaiian monarchy ward off European conquest, using literacy and Christianity as tools, says Tom Woods, director of the historic Mission Houses Museum.
By Star-Advertiser staff The Rev. Michael Lapsley, an Anglican priest from South Africa who lost both hands in retaliation for opposing apartheid policies, will appear at events on Oahu from Tuesday through June 14. Most events are free and open to the public.
By Pat Gee Episcopal Bishop Steven Charleston, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Okla­homa, said he once struggled to reconcile his Christian faith with the culture of his Native American roots — a challenge with which some Native Hawaiians and other indigenous people can identify.
By Pat Gee During his 33 years of teaching religion, recalled Alfred Bloom, the first question always asked by his students was, "What's going to happen to me after I die?"
By Star-Advertiser staff The Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin will celebrate "Gotan-e," the birthday of Shinran Shonin, founder of the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist sect, with special services May 19 and 20.
By Pat Gee Faith leaders, Hawaiian cultural teachers and other community leaders are holding a conference and retreat on Oahu this month to discuss what it means to have a just life, foster a spirit of connectedness and live in harmony, organizers say.
By Pat Gee One image stands out in Natalie Mun-Takata's memories of her family's annual Ching Ming pilgrimage to Manoa Chinese Cemetery: her father and uncles carrying a whole roasted pig on a red wooden tray down to her grandmother's grave in the green valley.
By Associated Press HUTCHINSON, Kan. » The tradition of ministers offering a Christian prayer before Reno County Commission meetings could come to an end after the commission received a letter from a national organization saying a resident had complained about the practice.
By Pat Gee with the Dalai Lama, he would ask what he and others could do as individuals to make world peace a reality.
By Pat Gee Having a spiritual icon like the Dalai Lama shine a spotlight on a new community peace-building event is like having a rock star in the islands, said Kelvin Taketa, president and CEO of the Hawaii Community Foundation.
By Pat Gee Classical music, an integral part of worship at Lutheran Church of Hono­lulu for the past 40 years, will heighten the drama of the last three days of Holy Week that culminate in Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday.
By Pat Gee A beloved custom more than 20 years old at Central Union Church — involving a donkey coming down the main aisle of the sanctuary and a procession of singing children — will be re-enacted once again for Palm Sunday.
By Pat Gee Attending Temple Emanu-El's annual Hono­lulu Community Passover Seder service and dinner April 7 is a valuable teaching tool for younger generations, says Marcia Klompus, an organizer of the event.
By Pat Gee During the past 10 to 15 years, nearly half of all Americans rejected established highways to heaven and took to open roads in their search for a welcoming God, according to a survey.
By Pat Gee Blessed Mother Marianne Cope succeeded St. Damien de Veuster in his merciful care of leprosy patients banished to Molokai, but to the Sisters of St. Francis, she has earned sainthood in her own right.
By Pat Gee Allene Ishikawa, a parishioner at Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church, chokes up each time she takes part in the weekly Stations of the Cross devotion, which traces Jesus Christ's agonizing footsteps to his death by crucifixion.
By Pat Gee Since civil unions became legal in Hawaii on Jan. 1, at least two-thirds of the 153 couples who have been joined in civil unions have opted for ceremonies outside the religious mainstream, choosing instead nondenominational officiants or judges, state data show.
By Pat Gee Rabbi Peter Schaktman and Imam Ismail Elshikh held a public dialogue Sunday in the interest of helping their audience understand their respective faiths and to foster more peace and justice in the world.
By Pat Gee Just as people have the freedom of worship, they should be free to decide how to end their own lives under certain conditions, says John Heidel, president of the Interfaith Alliance Hawaii and founder of Religious Leaders for Assisted Dying.
By Pat Gee Making the teachings of Jesus relevant to the daily challenges of raising young families has fueled the tremendous growth of New Hope Leeward, says senior Pastor Mike Lwin. The evangelical church has long outgrown its space and is searching for other accommodations.
By Pat Gee Joaquin "Kin" Borja, newly elected president of Aloha Life Advocates, has personal reasons for his convictions.
By Pat Gee Organizers of the 24th annual celebration of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday Monday are adding their voices to the Occupy Wall Street movement's cry for economic justice.
By Star-Advertiser Photographers
By Star-Advertiser staff The Most Rev. Larry Silva, Bishop of Honolulu, will speak on the value of a Catholic education and the special needs of parish schools at “Breakfast with the Bishop,” a fundraising event Jan. 22 for St. John Vianney School in Kailua.
By Star-Advertiser staff Church of the Crossroads has selected Nancy Aleck, executive director of the Hawaii People’s Fund, as the recipient of its Peacemaker Award for 2011.
By Pat Gee In Hawaii's multicultural society, the celebration of the new year has a predominantly Japanese flavor for which local people have definitely acquired a taste, no matter what their ancestry.
By Pat Gee Windward United Church of Christ members will be introduced to a Moravian love feast Christmas morning that has little to do with indulging in decadence, though the service is meant to induce feelings of warmth toward one's fellow man.
By Star-Advertiser staff In Japan the most important seasonal celebration is "hatsumode," which centers around celebrating New Year's Day with a visit to a Shinto shrine during the first three days of the new year, according to a news release from the Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha-Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu, a Shinto shrine.
By Pat Gee For more than five miles, students of the Pacific Buddhist Academy walked alongside Buddhist ministers in a Bodhi Day Walk for Peace this week in which they encouraged each other to finish the course and got to converse outside the formal trappings of a temple.
By Pat Gee Bodhi Day on Dec. 8 is recognized as the day Buddha attained the enlightenment that led to the founding of the religion in India in the fifth century B.C.E.
By Pat Gee For a few short hours, children who haven't seen their mothers for months, even years, will try to forget the prison bars that separate them and celebrate Christmas together, thanks to a Catholic program known as Star Light, Star Bright!
By Pat Gee It’s been 8 1⁄2 months since a monstrous earthquake and tsunami ravaged northern Japan, but members of Makiki Christian Church haven’t forgotten the victims and their arduous steps toward recovery.
By Pat Gee The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, which brought the first Catholic missionaries to Hawaii in 1827, formally merged its Hawaii chapter with a mainland contingent this week to expand its resources and invigorate its ministries.
By Pat Gee Christian, Buddhist, Baha'i, Jewish and Unitarian congregations are planning a Thanksgiving service under one roof to recognize 50 years of neighborliness in a community proud of its diversity of faith traditions.