Aloha! Thank you for visiting LocalOrthodox.com!
It’s great that there are a Greek Orthodox church and a Russian Orthodox church in Hawaii. But we also need an Orthodox church for the locals where the services are all in English and Hawaii’s unique local identity is affirmed. Many local people in Hawaii cannot relate to the ethnic Orthodox churches in Hawaii and because of that cultural gap they are not interested in Orthodoxy. We want to involve the kamaainas and the malihinis, Asians, Haoles, the kanaka maoli (the host peoples) and the more recent arrivals. We want to involve folks who call Hawaii home and identify with Hawaii’s unique culture.
There was an attempt several years ago to start up an all-English Orthodox mission under the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese, however the attempt did not work out. Despite the disappointing outcome, Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese is still interested in establishing an Orthodox Mission on Oahu but is waiting for the right circumstances. Bishop Joseph of Los Angeles once said to Father John Finley, “We ought to be ashamed of ourselves!” Confused, Father John asked: “Why?” Bishop Joseph answered, “Because we don’t have a mission in Hawaii.” Father John told this story to remind us that we are not alone and that many are praying for an all-English Orthodox mission to be planted on Oahu.
This website has been set up for the purposes of informing people in Hawaii about Orthodoxy and helping to start up an all-English Orthodox church on Oahu. If you share this vision of reaching Hawaii for Orthodoxy and starting an all-English Orthodox Church, please contact us.
The purpose of the blog postings will be to report on our attempts to start up an Antiochian mission in West Oahu and to discuss Hawaii’s culture and religious situation from an Orthodox perspective.
Lopaka