This morning, Sunday, we met our friends Mark and Tammie at the Lahaina United Methodist Church. Mark and Tammie are our Northern California friends who have a cattle ranch and whom we visited on our driving trip last year. By a neat God-incidence they are in Maui the same time we are.
The church was founded in 1896 and has a strong Hawaiian/Polynesian influence. The pastor, the Rev. Paul D. Tangonan, is Hawaiian and played his ukelele as part of the service. When the offering was taken the anthem was sung by a Tongan Choir. Part of the service included recitations by the congregation in Hawaiian:
"O kou aloha no, A ia i ka Lani, A o kou o ia i-o, He he-mo-le-le hoi. A-mene." (Your loving mercy is wide as the heavens; Let us too, with love and truth, regard ourselves and others. Amen.)
At the end of the service the entire congregation formed a large circle within the church and sang "Hawaii Aloha," again all in Hawaiian.
They were very welcoming to visitors and we felt very comfortable there. It was a very Christ-centered service with a wonderful Hawaiian flavor.
After church, Mark, Tammie, Betty and I went to Longhi's in Lahaina for a brunch and to share some more good memories.
After brunch we said goodbye to them and, God willing, we'll reconnect again soon.
We came back to our hotel room and watched a little of the Super Bowl. Being Bronco fans we were quickly disillusioned with the way the game was going and changed the channel to watch a movie.
After getting some ice cream from the hotel market, we enjoyed the evening sights and sounds.
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment