CHURCHBIZ BUZZ
By Sybil Nishioka

[Chronicle, August 10, 2023]  The Diocese's first ChurchBiz Conference was held on Saturday, July 29, 2023, on the grounds of The Cathedral of St. Andrew. Nearly 20 workshops were offered during three sessions, with topics related to "church business." From finances and reports to live streaming and burnout, the conference was being offered to assist clergy and lay (especially volunteers) to better understand and tackle some of the more challenging or even mundane tasks required for the church to function smoothly and properly. 

​​"​This is an event we have been asked to put on and that we wanted to provide since before the pandemic," said Rae Costa, the Operations Manager for the Diocese and the event organizer.  "We were happy that we were finally able to put this together and that we had such wonderful presenters!"  Rae had the mammoth task of securing presenters, configuring the schedule, and juggling attendees with their different choices of workshops.  

Folks began arriving early, some straight from early morning flights from the neighbor islands.  There was a large contingent from Hawai'i Island, with representatives from every church on that island!  Cordelia Burt and Steve Stigall from St. Jude's, were the first to arrive, lending a helping hand to set up the pastries, fruit, and snack table.  Lots of fellowship and camaraderie were shared as folks arrived and gathered under the Aloha tent.

​The day's event began with a special lay-led Morning Prayer service, featuring members of the first graduating class of Waiolaihui'ia Center for Ministry's Licensed Lay Worship Leaders program (see Chronicle, June 8, 2023). Roth Puahala, the Cathedral's Junior Warden and Verger, opened the service with an oli, followed by a reading. Frankie Pang (St. James'), Mary Ann Lentz (St. Christopher's), and Maria Jampolsky (Holy Apostles) then took turns leading the prayer service.  Providing the sounds of beautiful hymns was The Cathedral's organist, Mark Wong.  

Roth Puahala

Frankie Pang

Mary Ann Lentz

Maria Jampolsky

Mark Wong

What a joy it was to showcase our recent graduates of the licensed lay ministry class who led morning prayer. -- Rae Costa

Following the service, folks headed off to the first session of workshops taking place throughout the Cathedral campus.  The workshops, designed to be smaller and more interactive so that everyone could have a chance to ask their questions and discuss specific points with presenters, were held in both large spaces (the Cathedral, Tenney Theater, St. Paul's), small (Clergy Vesting Room, Choir Room), and in between (Von Holt, 2nd Floor Conference Room).  Even the Bishop and Canon Sandy opened up their offices for workshops!  

Several of the workshops were offered in two sessions to accommodate more people, including the presentation "Adding 'Ōlelo and Hawaiian Practices into your Liturgy" pictured above. 

“I was so encouraged by those who attended the workshop about Hawaiian language!" said the Rev. Jazzy Bostock, one of the presenters.  "Everyone was really receptive and seeking ways to add more ‘ōlelo into their liturgies.”   

Bostock is a member of the Diocese's Native Hawaiian Ministry Committee, and she, along with others from the committee were on hand to talk about their recent work with ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i translators to translate the Book of Common Prayer.  They shared how to incorporate the language and other cultural practices into liturgy and worship.  (Pictured above from left are: the Rev. Mark Haworth, Kalani Holokai, the Ven. Steve Costa, the Rev. Jazzy Bostock, the Rev. Keleawe Hee, and the Rev. Deacon Lani Bowman)

Sorry - Video recap coming soon!

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"I found out some interesting and cool things in the Live Streaming," said Steve Stigall from St. Jude's. "There are some things our small congregation can do and should do. He also attended the Campus Safety and Diocesan Portfolio workshops, sharing how the latter "opened his eyes to the depth and breadth of what the Commission on Investment does."   

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"All of the workshops were very good," said Barbara Service from the Cathedral of St. Andrew, "and at all of the workshops, people in the audience asked the leaders or facilitators if they could come to their churches to further help them with budgeting, or discernment, wanting to be a deacon, or whatever.  It was very interesting."

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The Rev. Deacon Alberta Buller, helped lead a workshop on the Diaconate ("There are Deacons Among Us") and was delighted with the interest generated.  "We got asked to take the show on the road which makes me really excited. I'd love to do that,"  said Buller.  She was also able to sit in on the 'Ōlelo class, sharing, "l really enjoyed that one!"

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Close to home, our new Diocesan Administrative Assistant, Brett Johnson, found time to attend the Bishop's "Who's Who" workshop between tasks. "[It] was very informative and I’m excited to revisit the material later on in the digital space," said Brett hinting at the possibility of having a recorded version of the workshop posted so that others may view the valuable information.

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Richard Witter from Holy Apostles, attended the workshops on Campus Security, Property, and Live Streaming.  "They were all very very good," said Richard. "I learned a lot."

Rae shared that attendees said they would be able to take back to their churches the information, training, and tools that they received at the conference and added, "If there is interest, we’d like to make this an annual event!"

The buzz surrounding ChurchBiz was that it was a hit, with folks leaving a bit more knowledgeable and perhaps a bit more enlightened!

Mahalo to all the presenters, participants, volunteers, and staff for making the first ChurchBiz Conference a meaningful event!

HISTORICAL ITEMS DEBUT AT CHURCHBIZ

Making a special appearance at ChurchBiz was a collection of priceless historical artifacts from the Diocese's Archives that included Bibles and Books of Common Prayer once owned by the Royal Family and other early church officials from England.  Watch this video with Canon Sandy Graham and Diocesan Archivist Stuart Ching who show us some of the treasures that made its debut at ChurchBiz.

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Photos:  Sybil Nishioka, Rae Costa, Gregory Johnson