Central Union Church hosts memorial to lives lost to COVID-19

Forty-five minutes and 48 seconds.

That’s how long it took for Central Union Church’s tower bells to ring Monday for every one of 916 lives lost in Hawaii to COVID-19, so far. The death toll is quadruple what it was when a ceremony was held on All Saints Day last year.

A total of 916 empty chairs — each marked with a date — lined the Honolulu church’s front lawn.

Last week the ceremony’s organizers anticipated setting up about 900 chairs, compared with 228 last year. But over the weekend there were another 20 deaths reported by the state Department of Health — 10 on Saturday and 10 on Sunday — boosting the number to 916 by Monday.

“On this day we join with our sisters and brothers around the world in remembering all those who have passed away in this year,” said the Rev. Mary Herbig of Central Union Church. “This has been a particularly heartbreaking year — year and a half, really — as the COVID-19 pandemic has swept through the world and through our islands. … So we gathered here … to remember them, to remember the difference that they made in our lives and in our community.”

She added, “We’re here to open ourselves and our hearts to the full range of emotions that we have felt this year. Most of all, we are here to support one another, to hold one another up through this time.”

Herbig said about 40 volunteers early Monday morning set up chairs donated by Absolute Party Rentals. The process of setting them up was heartbreaking, she said. “When we did this last year, we were hoping we wouldn’t need to do this again this year,” said Herbig.

This year Central Union invited pastors from several churches to participate, representing the shared impacts of COVID-19. Among them were the Rev. David Turner of Church of the Crossroads, Kahu Ken Makuakane of Kawaiaha‘o Church and the Rev. Jeannie Thompson of Nuuanu Congregational Church.

The public memorial was in place from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the day many Christian churches observe All Saints Day. At noon the church bell began tolling — three seconds for each person in Hawaii who has died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Last year the same memorializing of lost lives took 15 minutes and 12 seconds.

“On All Saints Day the church remembers those who have died, those who have gone before us,” said the Rev. Brandon Duran, acting senior minister of Central Union Church. “On this day we remember those on our islands who have died from COVID. We do not know the full extent of their lives or all that they did in their lives, but we are convinced that they were loved. They were loved by family and friends, and I believe they are loved by God. It is the grace and love of God that makes us saints. So today, on All Saints Day, we honor and remember them.”

After the bell-tolling ceremony, some attendees lingered in meditation. At the scene, a butterfly fluttered over a row of chairs, and traffic continued to flow by at nearby Beretania and Punahou streets.

Alice Taum brought bouquets of ginger, ti leaves and ferns from her garden to honor a friend’s husband and a neighbor known to many fondly as “da laulau man.” Both died in September.

She taped the memorial program, with permission from the family, to the Sept. 30 chair for Kimo Henriques, also known as “Braddah Kimo.” He was described in the program as a loving father and grandfather — generous, humble and willing to help anyone in need.

“Every single one of those chairs represents somebody’s mother, father, sister, brother, son, daughter, auntie, uncle,” said Taum. Hearing the bells for each person was “very powerful,” she said.

Three pediatricians from nearby Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children also stopped by to place an orchid lei on a chair in memory of all COVID-19 victims. “I think we’ve all had a patient or patients who have had family members who died,” said Dr. Benetta Chin.

Across the U.S., the COVID-19 death toll Monday was at more than 745,000, while the global death toll topped 5 million.

During the bell-tolling at Central Union, what struck Thompson of Nuuanu Congregational Church was the time span.

“It was just so sad to me,” she said. “Those bell rings only lasted about three seconds, but it took so long to get through them because of the number of people that we have lost to all of this. The hardest part about suffering is that so many people, they feel it so deeply, that it feels like they’re alone. … I hope what all those chairs remind people is that we’re in this together.”