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CHURCH OFFICE HOURS

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday

9:30 am-01:30pm

Wednesday 09:30 am—12:20 pm

Chur h of the Holy Cross, U ited Chur h of Christ

West La ikaula St., Hilo, Ha aii

- holy osshilo@ha aii. . o

.holy osshilo. o

The Messenger

Feb. 4th, 2015

Important Dates to Remember:

Sun, Feb. 8th

Council Meeting In Lounge

Tues, Feb. 10th

3 pm in Sanctuary UCC Justice & Witness Team

Session 1: Affordable Care

Act

Sat, Feb. 14th Valentines Day

Sun, Feb. 15th

Board of Trustees Mtg in Lounge After worship

Mon, Feb. 16th Presidents’ Day CHC CLOSED

Sun, Feb. 22nd

General Membership

& Board of Deacons Mtg after Worship

Wed, Feb. 22th

Annual Meeting after Worship

Mon, Feb. 16th

PRESIDENT’S DAY

Church Office Will Be Closed

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Care Givers Meeting

10 a.m. to 12 noon in the Building of Faith

Also, please contact me by email with any questions you have and would like to have discussed at the next meeting! We will share your questions with Chris Ridley and research answers and resources for our meetings. Mahalo,

Jeanne Yagi Sat, Feb. 14th

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!

Sun, Feb. 22nd

General Membership Meeting

&

Board of Deacons Meeting

After Worship

Sun, Feb. 22nd

Annual Meeting

After Worship

Please plan to remain after worship for this important meeting with the

congregation.

Lent begins February 18 – Ash Wednesday

At the conclusion of Bible Study on Feb 18 we will have a brief service of prayer and ashes, for those who wish to receive them. Come at 10:45 am if you are not able to come to Bible Study. Begin the season of Lent with a time of prayer and reflection. Ashes will be available for those who wish to receive them.

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Pastor’s Corner

From the Interim Minister—Lenten Covenant

During Lent some persons like to give up something – coffee, chocolate, or some other thing you enjoy. One year I gave up shopping for things other than groceries. I had been shopping for entertainment and so this was an important discipline for me. It was a good discipline for me that year and I had time to spend in other ways!

This year, instead of giving up something I suggest taking on a spiritual discipline: daily scrip-ture reading and prayer. I invite you to read a chapter from an Old Testament book and a chap-ter from a New Testament book each day. We will pray for one another and Church of the Holy Cross, UCC. You will receive a list of other persons in the covenant and their requests about how to pray for them.

To begin, I invite you to pick a time of day when you can take time to read scripture and pray without interruption. Choose a translation of scripture which is easy to understand. The Mes-sage and the Contemporary English Version are two I like. (See the web site: Bible Gateway for others.) I prefer to read a psalm and a chapter from a Gospel. It is helpful if you choose a place where you can make a center for prayer – with your Bible and possibly a candle. If you miss a day do NOT read twice as much the next day, to guard against discouragement. Forgive yourself for missing a day and begin again. If you need more suggestions talk with me about your questions.

Many persons have found this a wonderful way to deepen their spiritual lives and grow to care more deeply for those we hold in prayer. You may ask others to pray for a personal need, a need for another or the church or the world. I ask that you fill out the form in this Messenger and return it to me or e-mail me at marychchilo@gmail with the information. In this way we can pray for one another with greater focus. We carry these prayer concerns with great care and in confidence, and do not discuss them with others.

Deepening our spiritual lives takes time, effort, listening and paying attention. It does pay off! It is our calling as Christians as well. And this year it is my prescription for a healthier Church of the Holy Cross: to deepen our spiritual lives and faith in Jesus Christ. Mahalo! Mary

Name ____________________________ e-mail __________________________ or

Address _____________________________________________________________

I covenant to read a chapter from the Old Testament and a chapter from the New Testament daily beginning Wednesday, February 18 and concluding on Saturday, April 4. I covenant to pray for the others who are also reading scripture daily.

With my name please pray that ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In Our Prayers.

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Search Committee

The Search Committee is diligently working on looking for our new Pastor. We are now contacting references of applicants and have requested copies of their sermons to review. Please keep us in your prayers.

Blessings, Stefan Tanouye, Committee Chair

ALL BOARDS & COMMITTEES

Dear Church of the Holy Cross Family,

On my final Sunday with you, I had a mahalo prepared to share with you all, but when the time came to give it, I found myself filled with too much emotion to speak. So please accept this belated thank you from the bottom of my heart. For two years, it was my honor and privilege to be a member of your

family. Thank you for your acceptance, your love, your laughter, your patience, your kindness, your gifts. I may now be many thousands of miles away, but you are with me in my heart. I have finally settled in my new home (127 Spruce Street, Floor 2, Lewisburg, PA 17837). It's been very chilly since I got here (high of 20). I'm already sick of turtlenecks and craving (Hawaiian) slippers! My new congregation is lovely and sweet. I'm so excited to walk with them as they search for a pastor, just as you are. Be strong and courageous, for our God goes with you whoever you go.

Aloha, Ruth Farrell

Hawaii Conference UCC Justice and Witness and team announce the first web broadcast.

The first session is: Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"): What It Means for You,

Tuesday, February 10, 3 PM

Ellen Godbey Carson and Aryanna Abouzari, health law attorneys at Honolulu law firm Alston Hunt, Floyd and Ing, will discuss how this law

is transforming the health care industry and how it will impact each of us. To join the webinar on February 10 go to this link: http://tinyurl.com/nx6mz2v.

If you are not a regular web user Sue Smith will be showing the broadcast at the Church in the Sanctuary that day and time. Please join via the web or at church.

The next broadcast will be on March 17 at 10AM covering homelessness in Hawaii. More will be available information in future messengers. ****************************************************************************

Thank-you for the food and toiletries which you placed under our Giving Tree. The food was donated to the Food Basket and Hope Services received the toiletries. Thank-you also for the KTA receipts. We were able to obtain two cans of ham, two turkeys and several slabs of frozen salmon. We served BBQ smoked turkey sandwiches at our January Senior Ministry session and last week we cooked another turkey in Karl Kawahara's imu. We were also able to share KTA receipts with members of our church ohana. We are collecting February' KTA receipts which we plan to share with members of our church family.

Moira Tanaka

Women’s Fellowship

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James Elliott, a University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo performing arts student on exchange at Queens College, New York, has directed and produced Leaving Hawaiʻi: Pedro Kaʻawaloa, a documentary about Pedro Kaʻawaloa, a Hilo native who moved to New York to pursue his dream of becoming a professional performer.

The documentary was part of a film assignment that called for students to document someone with an interesting job or someone who came to New York from a unique place. Elliott chose Kaʻawaloa, whom he has known since high school, as his subject.

Kaʻawaloa, who has a long history in performing arts, previously worked at UH Hilo as the music director for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Seussical, the Musical. He moved to New York in the fall of 2014 and has since been featured in Westchester Broadway Theatre’s production of South Pacific.

Leaving Hawaiʻi: Pedro Kaʻawaloa provides a insider’s look at Kaʻawaloa’s journey through a one-on-one interview, a backstage tour of the Westchester Broadway Theatre and video footage of some of his earlier work.

“Each of my auditions has been a fabulous learning experience,” said Kaʻawaloa of making his way in the business. “Each has challenged me in some way, and forced me to make decisions and learn from mis-takes.”

“The message I want to share with viewers is never limit yourself,” said Elliott. “Everyone has dreams, goals and purpose.”

Ce teri g Prayer Retreat for Wo e

Fri, Fe . 7 to Su , Mar h

Ho olulu, Hawaii

Ce te i g P aye is a ay to deepe you spi itual life i uiet o e io ith God. Fo o e i fo aio see Pasto Ma y. S hola ships ay e a aila le. Take this oppo tu ity fo est a d e e al!

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The Messenger

The Messenger is a bimonthly newsletter distributed by the Church of the Holy Cross in Hilo. If you have an article please either send it via email in word for-mat to holycrosshilo@hawaii.rr.com or via post. The next scheduled Messenger

will be February 18, 2015.

February Ushers: Barbara Iwami, Lei Jack

& Millie Daikawa

February 1, 2015

Chapel Decorations Margaret Torigoe

Layreader: Millie Daikawa

February 8, 2015

Chapel Decoration Lily Inouye (Mem.)

Layreader: Janet Fujioka

February 15, 2015

Chapel Decoration Else Ushijima (Mem)

Layreader: Carolyn

Lum-Bellem

February 22, 2015 Chapel Decoration

Hats Kamimura Layreader:

Margaret Torigoe

FEBRUARY 2015

4 Deborah Watabayashi Joanne Yamauchi

4 Susan Palea

8 Kachie L. Robert

15 Anita Mathews

20 Dean Ushijima

24 Mildred Daikawa

26 Esther Kodani

27 RoAnne Chow

Mindy Kudo

Adult Education

Bible Study – Mark’s Gospel

Beginning February 9 and 11 we will study Mark’s Gospel. It is the shortest of the four Gospels – only 16 chapters long, and the earliest to be written. Everything occurs immediately in Mark’s telling. What can we learn about our faith by looking at this Gospel? What does it tell us about who Jesus is?

Monday evenings we meet in the Pastor’s study. Wednesday am we meet in the Lounge, near the upper parking lot.

Lent begins February 18 – Ash Wednesday

At the conclusion of Bible Study on Feb 18 we will have a brief service of prayer and ashes, for those who wish to receive them. Come at 10:45 am if you are not able to come to Bible Study. Begin the season of Lent with a time of prayer and reflection.

LENT is the season of preparation for the celebration of Easter, 40 days long, not including Sundays. Each Sunday is a “mini-Easter,” as we remember the resurrection of Jesus the Christ. In the early Christian Church the time before Easter was for preparation for adult Baptism. Thus the time before Easter became a season for reflection, learning, prayer and deepening of faith. We now call this season Lent. The col-or associated with the season is purple.

Special Lenten devotional booklets entitled, Led by Christ: Action Begins in the Heart, will be available at church for adults and families. Please pick up your booklet and set aside time for devotional reading and prayer this Lent.

Prayers for Yoko Hayano

Our deepest sympathy goes out to Yoko and her family. Her father passed away in Japan recently.