REV. DAN HEN CHONG KONG / 1928-2005

Inspirational pastor
led Hawaii Baptist
Academy, Olivet flock

Rev. Dan Hen Chong Kong inspired people -- there was just something about him.

Dan Kong: Friends recall people drawn to the pastor by his personality and civility

"It was a certain charisma that he had," said longtime friend and colleague, O.W. Efrud, former executive director of Hawaii Baptist Academy. "He was a very articulate person and a very effective communicator. He was just an outstanding preacher."

Kong, who in 1945 became the first Hawaii-born Southern Baptist pastor to preach in the islands and went on to head the Hawaii Baptist Academy, died Monday at Straub Clinic & Hospital. He was 76.

Services for Kong are set for 3:30 p.m. today at Olivet Baptist Church, where he served as pastor for 13 years.

Kong grew up in Wahiawa, and converted to the Southern Baptist ministry at 12 years old. He attended Michigan State University and Georgetown College, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1950. He got his master's of divinity degree from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

In 1954, he returned to Hawaii to become pastor at First Baptist Church in Wahiawa, the oldest Southern Baptist church in the islands.

After six years at First Baptist, he moved to Olivet Baptist Church in Honolulu.

Allen Au, who first met Kong more than 35 years ago, said the preacher was a "people lover." His sermons stirred -- and attracted -- congregations.

"He made a lot of conversions because of his personality," said Au, who also worked with Kong at the Hawaii Baptist Academy. "He brought civility and calmness."

Kong, who became development director at Hawaii Baptist Academy in 1973, returned to the school in 1988 as president.

In 1983, he was elected executive director of the Hawaii Baptist Convention, a position he held for four years. Kong retired in December as interim pastor at Central Baptist Church and minister of the Ilikai Protestant Fellowship, which he set up in the 1960s as a nondenominational church for tourists.

In lieu of flowers, Kong's family asks that donations be sent to the Central Baptist Church building fund, 1217 Nehoa St., Honolulu, HI 96822; the Kong Scholarship at Hawaii Baptist Academy, at 21 Bates St., Honolulu, HI 96817; or the Maui Economic Opportunities BEST Reintegration Program, 99 Mahalani St., Wailuku, HI 96793.

Kong is survived by wife Mary Eleanor; daughters Danette Poole, Verdine, Edna and Betty-Jo DeFries; and sister Eileen Kong Lovelace.