[ RELIGION ]
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
The Rev. John Parish of Wahiawa Christian Church shows a photo of the church before its 1968 remodeling. The church will mark its 50th anniversary with a service next Saturday.
Wahiawa ministry
remembers its rootsThe church began 50 years ago
as a Filipino congregation
When the folks at Wahiawa Christian Church sit down for the 50th anniversary service next Saturday, it will be a lively celebration but also a time of rest after a year of hands-on hard work.
Members have joined in the painting and cleaning and gardening, some carpentry and plumbing jobs, and even the replacement of six termite-eaten beams, a project led by carpenter-member Kenny Hirabara.
"We have put a lot of energy into getting the physical work done," said the Rev. John Parish, pastor of the small Disciples of Christ congregation. "It brought us together in fellowship and gave us an intensity and focus. The whole year's journey has been a blessing."
Five charter members will be among the members and friends at the 2 p.m. Saturday service at 1710 Royal Palm Drive. The program of worship, music and reminiscences will include a talk by state Sen. President Robert Bunda, whose parents Sandy and Esther Bunda have attended the church for about 40 years.
To continue the celebration Sunday, families and friends will have a picnic at Alii Beach Park in Haleiwa to commemorate the first service, which was held at the oceanside. The beach is still the scene of the church's baptisms.
Wahiawa Community Church began as a Filipino congregation led by the Rev. Emilio Yadao. After the first years of meeting at the Wahiawa YMCA, members built and dedicated the sanctuary in 1958.
The faces in the pews today reflect Hawaii's multi-ethnic population and include military families.
Parish said the congregation is involved in community outreach, particularly to the homeless, which reflects the denomination's emphasis on social justice.
"The Disciples of Christ have always been in the forefront of education, and our national church has a strong anti-discrimination stand. Each church has the freedom to express itself in whatever way reflects their community needs," he said.
Several times a year, members distribute "survival packs" of toiletries, towels and food to needy people, and provide small Bibles to anyone interested. They collect perishable food throughout the year for distribution from another church's food pantry. They serve hot meals in a park during Christmas and Easter season.
The congregation decided to call its ministry to the homeless the Raymond Project two years ago, in honor of Raymond Alan Melley, 31, who died in a pedestrian accident on May 10, 2002. Melley was a homeless man who was allowed to sleep in the church office.
The African American pastor, with personal experience of discrimination and civil rights activism, believes that the homeless are discrimination victims today. As an example, he cites the fact that Melley's killer was never brought to justice.
Parish, a native of Abilene, Texas, is married to the former Esther Castillo, grandchild of a founding member of the church. They met as students at Chapman University in Orange, Calif. He went to a seminary in Berkeley and was ordained in the Baptist church.
He was chosen as the Wahiawa pastor seven years ago, after more than 30 years in which "education was my ministry." He has taught at and helped establish Christian schools in California, Alabama, Washington, D.C., and Washington state. He came to Hawaii to help set up Calvary United Pentecostal Church school in Moanalua.
Parish likes to remember his ministry debut in Hawaii, as a street preacher on a Fort Street corner in the early 1980s.
"It was a time when I was wounded. It was a healing for me because I turned to the needs of others."
The Wahiawa pastor's book of poetry, "Cry Loud, from Protest to Praise" -- reflecting his experiences as a draftee in the Vietnam War, in the 1960s civil rights movement, and in the Christian ministry -- will be issued this spring by an Oregon publisher.
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