Donation for the anniversary book will benefit the Mission Fund.
Please PayPal using the button to the right and include the number of copies desired. PayPal will ask for your mailing address so the book can be mailed to you.
As part of this year’s 125th anniversary of the founding on the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, the congregation committed to raising $125,000 to support the mission of this congregation. We have already raised $65,000 for enhancements to the Rudolph von Beckerath organ and more than $20,000 towards the other mission goals of the congregation. We ask for your support in completing this goal.
The Mission Fund will further the Welcoming and Safe Environment and Silver Tsunami (Caring for our Kūpuna) priorities identified in our ‘ohana group meetings held in 2024. We intend to set aside $50,000 for much-needed improvements to our campus to create a welcoming and safe environment, and $4,000 will be used as seed money for programming for our kūpuna. As is our practice, we will set aside a tenth of what we raise ($6,000) as a tithe to the synod.
More information about the priorities to be supported by the Mission Fund is available in our earlier post about the 125th Anniversary Mission Fund Plans.
Donations may be made by check (made out to Lutheran Church of Honolulu with “Mission Fund” in the memo line and mailed to 1730 Punahou St., Honolulu, HI 96822) and sent to the church (1730 Punahou Street, Honolulu, HI 96822) or via PayPal using the button to the right.
Beckerath organs are renowned for their craftsmanship and historical significance. The Beckerath company, founded by Rudolf von Beckerath in Hamburg, Germany, has been creating exquisite pipe organs for over 75 years, influencing both the soundscape of sacred and secular spaces and the evolution of organ building. Hans Erbslöh and the Beckerath Organ Company continue to innovate while respecting traditional organ-building techniques. This future-oriented perspective might include the integration of new technologies, expanding the musical repertoire of their instruments, and maintaining their commitment to quality and artistic excellence. Whether through restoring historic organs or designing new ones, the Beckerath Organ Company remains a beacon of musical craftsmanship, resonating well into the future.
Our Beckerath Organ is currently being cleaned and renovated. Through the generous donations of members and friends of LCH, we have reached our $65,000 fundraising goal! All of us at LCH are both grateful and overjoyed in your generosity to both this congregation and the organ. This is your instrument, and it leads beautifully in services week after week and year after year.
The new Salicional 8′ stop has been added to the Swell division of the organ. A new Trompete 8′ stop has replaced the TrichterSchalmei 4′ in the Pedal division. These two enhancements help the Beckerath Organ to be more complete in both voices; it did not have a string sound, nor a fundamental unison-pitched sound in the pedal. Even J.S. Bach requested a string stop be placed in his organ at Weimar. The trumpet stop in the pedal will help in Bach chorales, which require an assertive sound for the cantus firmus, and also to develop the plenum of sound in the full pedal with the Fagott 16′.
Please join us for a celebratory weekend on Friday, June 6, at 7:00 pm for Dr. Barry Wenger’s recital featuring the new sounds of the organ and then again on Sunday, June 8, at 5:00 pm for a choral Pentecost service featuring the LCH Choir and organ. Be ready to sing with the new sounds of the organ in a service of fire and joy. Don’t forget to wear red to celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit in wind and fire!
Next year’s pilgrimage to Germany as part of our 125th anniversary celebration is all set! Dr. Barry Wenger, our director of music and liturgy, Jean Lilley, and Pr. Phyllis Hormann will be leading a group of members and friends of LCH, walking in the footsteps of Martin Luther, revisiting our heritage, and renewing our spirits.
Participants will depart the US on May 24, 2026, and return on June 5. The trip itself starts in Berlin and ends in Prague. In between we will have time in Wittenberg, Torgau, Leipzig, Eisleben, Erfurt, Eisenach, and Dresden. It will be a pilgrimage filled with stories and history from a couple of pastors as well as local guides. Besides walking in Luther’s footsteps, we will visit other significant religious and historical sites, museums, churches, and castles and see some beautiful countryside. We will hear organ concerts by Dr. Barry and possibly other organists. We may also hear a choir. All the details are in the tour brochure (PDF).The cost is $2,800 per person (double occupancy), based on a group of 30 participants and not including air fare. A $1,000 deposit will be required by January 15, 2026, with full payment by March 15. Payments are to be made to Lutheran Church of Honolulu, and the church will send in a check for the initial deposits and as well as the final payment check. The brochure includes details about what we are doing in each place, where we will stay, what is and is not included in the cost, payment and cancellation, terms and conditions, and other recommendations.
Participants are responsible for their own travel arrangements. Randy Christensen, a member of LCH who is also a travel agent, has kindly offered to help with flight searches and bookings should you want/need it. He will not charge for help finding flights, but if you want him to book your flight, there is a charge of $25.00. Contact Randy by phone at 808-371-7025 or by email at christensenctc1@gmail.com.
Registration forms may be sent by email to barryjwenger@gmail.com or by post to the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, 1730 Punahou Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822. Payments should be sent to the Church at the above address “Attention Dr. Barry Wenger.” Payments may also be made using the PayPal link to the right; however, if you choose to pay online, you must cover the applicable PayPal fees.
This year LCH will celebrate Earth Day with a special service at 10:00 am on Sunday, April 27. The worship service will use a special liturgy centered around creation care.
Before worship, the Adult Form will welcome Dr. Jonathan Scheurer to speak on water rights at 9:00 am in the Boardroom. Dr. Scheurer has twenty five years experience in public policy and land management in the public, non profit, and private sectors, in the Native Hawaiian and broader communities. He works with clients to develop strategies designed to avoid, manage, and/or resolve deep and complex conflicts over the control and management of natural resources.
In addition, sharing tables will be set up in the Hörmann Courtyard for members and friends to share nature’s bounty (plants, flowers vegetables, fruits, nuts, and crafts made of natural materials). The photo at the right shows one of the sharing tables from last year’s celebration.
Read about the history Earth Day, forms of climate activism, ways to get involved, and LCH’s commitment to creation care in the April HeartBeat.
Lenten Soup and Salad SuppersPlease join in this wonderful time of fellowship and prayer, beginning each Wednesday of Lent with a simple soup and salad supper. Suppers are served at 5:45 pm, prior to 7:00 pm Lenten services in the Nave. A sign-up sheet will be available in the courtyard for contributions to each week’s meal and for help with set-up and clean-up. See Jeanne Castello or call the LCH office for more information.
Join us mid-week during Lent as we share Holden Evening Prayer. The sung prayer service begins at 7:00 pm preceded by a soup-and-salad supper at 5:45 pm in the church courtyard. This year’s Lenten theme is Holy Lament.
All are welcomed and encouraged to share this intimate prayer service and supper with us this Lenten season.
The LCH Choir and orchestra present a concert in memory of Pastor Jeff Lilley Thursday evening, March 13, at 7:00 pm.
Music for the concert includes J.S. Bach’s Cantata No. 38, “Out of the Depths, I Cry to Thee” and Ruth Watson Henderson’s “From Darkness to Light.”
We mark this five-month anniversary of Pr. Jeff’s passing through the beauty of music. Please invite friends and family to this beautiful concert of music to remember our sorrow and also to remember our joy!
Pr. Lesley Radius began serving as the interim pastor of LCH on March 1. We welcome her as our new shepherd and partner in ministry and look forward to all that we will do together over the next year or two. Pr. Lesley, who will be living at Luther Place, will be jumping right into her new call and preaching on March 2. Her email is pr.lesley@lchwelcome.org.
We ask everyone to remember that Pr. Lesley is severely allergic to scented flowers, incense, and perfumes. She has been in the Emergency Room in anaphylaxis, so all are asked to honor her allergy issues whenever you come to the LCH campus.
Pastor Lesley Radius grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and attended Hope Lutheran Church, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. When she was 13, “Mr. Lesley Radius” was invited to attend a program that fast tracked participants through high school, college, and seminary. With her invitation to that program,Lesley received a brochure entitled “So, you want to be a pastor!” Oddly enough, when Lesley was packing for Lutheran School of Theology, 30 years after she had received the brochure, she found the brochure in the very bottom of the last box she was sorting. This reinforced for Lesley her call to pastoral ministry, even if it took her a long time to know her call and be in a denomination that would allow her to be a pastor.
Lesley is trained in interim ministry, church planting, and church redevelopment. She has served churches in Missouri, Kansas, Tennessee, Maryland, Texas, and now Hawai‘i.
Lesley is very excited to be on this journey with LCH as we discover together what God is up to in our church, the greater community, the state, the nation, and the world. “God is loose in the world,” as Peter Mayer sings. During this transition time, we get the privilege to discern how we will be about doing God’s work, with our hands. May God bless our time together and continue the work of transformation each and every day in each of us. Always remember, Jesus loves you.
LCH’s 125th Anniversary celebration includes two important elements—refurbishing the organ and mission objectives that were formed through the critical input from the ‘Ohana Groups and the ongoing discussions about what is God calling us to do.
The areas the congregation identified as the most important are:
The area of liturgy and music is being covered by the money being raised for the organ and a generous $79,000 bequest from the Thomas Hilgers Trust that is to be spent on the music program, but specifically for items not in the ongoing budget, such as concerts, new musical commissions, and other ways to expand the music program.
To cover the Welcoming and Safe Environment and the Silver Tsunami, we propose the following:
We will create task forces to oversee these efforts and make sure the congregation is involved in the planning. If you want to be part of one of these task forces, please talk to Olivia Castro.
As of publication, we have raised $9,000 for the mission part of the 125th anniversary celebration. We narrowed the focus and are now concentrating on raising funds. If you would like to contribute, we ask that you do the following:
If you have any questions, please contact Mary Fastenau, Olivia Castro, or Dan Dennison.
Each year, the LCH youth raise money for travel to the continent with their Punahou Carnival parking fundraiser. This year the carnival is schedule for Friday and Saturday, February 7 and 8. If you are planning to visit the carnival, consider parking in the lot behind the church or in our Poki Lot, mauka of the church on Poki Street (behind the condo across Dominis Street from the church.)
Members and friends are encouraged to volunteer for a three-hour shifts during the carnival on either day. Event coordinators provide snacks and drinks, flashlights, and safety vests, and you provide the fellowship!