Kawaiaha'o Church nominates new pastor
By Mary Kaye Ritz
Advertiser Religion & Ethics Writer
After an 11-month search for a senior pastor at Kawaiaha'o Church, the Rev. Kaleo Patterson has been nominated for the position.
Advertiser library photo • May 2, 1996
Patterson, who serves as associate pastor of Kaumakapili Church and assists at Ka Hana O Ke Akua Church in Wai'anae, has a national profile as a Hawaiian sovereignty activist.
The Rev. Kaleo Patterson's reputation as an activist was cemented in work as founding president and first executive director of the Hawai'i Ecumenical Coalition.
Efforts began in December to replace Kahu James Fung, who resigned in November after just 18 months, said pastoral search committee chair LeRoy Akamine. The Hawai'i-born Fung left for Connecticut.
The congregation was told of Patterson's nomination on Sunday, and the nomination will go to a vote by the congregation by the end of November.
Kawaiaha'o, which calls itself the mother church of Hawai'i, comes under the umbrella of the United Church of Christ. Its registered membership is about 600, "but the 'ohana is much larger than that," Akamine said.
The search committee initially considered 10 applicants for kahu, narrowed it down to five finalists and interviewed three. Two of them preached during visits, including Patterson, though not as part of the selection process, Akamine said.
"There was no doubt he was the superior candidate — outstanding qualifications and a world of experience," Akamine said. "He's very, very capable in moving us forward into this new millennium."
The 48-year-old grew up in Makaha and attended Kaumakapili. He earned divinity degrees from Bangor Theological Seminary in Maine and Chicago Theological Seminary. From 1985 to 1993, he was pastor of Kapa'a First Hawaiian Church and Ko'olau Hui Ia Church on Kaua'i.
His reputation as an activist was cemented in work as founding president and first executive director of the Hawai'i Ecumenical Coalition. Beginning in 1989, Patterson took the lead in seeking an apology from the United Church of Christ for the overthrow of the monarchy. Because of those efforts, national denomination president Paul Sherry apologized before 12,000 mostly Hawaiian people on the grounds of the 'Iolani Palace and Kaumakapili Church in Jan. 17, 1993, at the 100th anniversary of the overthrow.
"That's part of the shift we're seeing in this church," Patterson said yesterday, adding that it was not the reason he was selected.
"They need a pastor, want to move in a different direction," he said. "I'll try to help."
Fung gave no negative reasons for his departure, but the "Western" style of ministering he developed during 35 years on the Mainland was "not the best fit" for a church so steeped in tradition that ministers must be able to speak Hawaiian.
Fung was also quoted as saying he wished the missionaries who had founded Kawaiaha'o in 1820 had been as aware of differences between their religion and the spiritual life of Hawaiians.
In 2001, Patterson wrote an article advocating decolonization and total independence for Hawai'i that was published by the magazine of the United Methodist Church.
The Hawai'i Ecumenical Coalition has long worked with Hawaiian groups throughout the islands on sovereignty, land and environmental issues.
"We've tried to be in solidarity with Hawaiians," said Patterson, who has been arrested during protest rallies.
All charges against him were later dismissed.
