The Windward United Church of Christ, which has ministered to the Kailua community since 1956, will become part of the historic Central Union Church in Honolulu as of July 1.

About 70 members of the Windward church, which has been weakened by declining membership in keeping with a national trend, have the option to join Central Union, said the Rev. David Rivers, whose four-year contract as the latter’s senior minister was renewed in May.

The Windward UCC, at 38 Kaneohe Bay Drive, was actually founded by Central Union but later became independent. It has been led by settled minister Jayne Ryan Kuroiwa since 2013. She will remain with the Hawaii United Church of Christ conference office and fill in at churches searching for permanent ministers, Rivers said.

Rivers said he is going to meet with as many nonprofits and community groups as possible to find ways to partner with them and to discern whatever needs are not being met. “We see this as a larger community conversation. … The intent is to bring hope and life to that which needs it.”

He said the next three years will be spent on “redesign, redevelopment and rebirth” of the Windward church, with emphasis on listening to the community as it re-envisions the future. The facilities there need to be evaluated to see whether they can be modernized or expanded, he added.

The Windward church, like Central Union, is heavily involved in community outreach, such as free food distribution and thrift shop programs. The Samaritan Counseling Center and Kamaaina Kids’ Aikahi Preschool operate on the Windward campus, and several recovery groups meet there regularly.

As of July 1 some of Central Union’s administrative staff will move to the Windward side, and on Sundays the pastoral staff will rotate at the pulpit. About one-fourth of Central Union’s members, which number 1,200, already live on the Windward side, he added.

Central Union, which moved to its current location at 1660 S. Beretania St. in the 1920s, has spawned more than 20 other churches, schools and nonprofits since it was established in 1887 as a sanctuary for lonely whaling seamen and Congregational missionaries from New England. It celebrated its 130th anniversary last year, itself the product of a merger of Bethel Union and Fort Street churches.