Category Archives: Worship

LCH Celebrates Earth Day Sunday on April 27

Posted on by

The bounty of our Earth Day celebration 2024This 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.

Holy Week and Easter Worship at LCH

Posted on by

April 13 + 10:00 pm + Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week. The service begins in the courtyard as a brass quartet leads worshippers in a procession with palm leaves around the church, recalling Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The service then moves inside for a reading of the Passion Gospel and Holy Communion.

April 17 + 7:30 pm + Maundy Thursday

We remember Jesus’ command to “love one another” as we wash feet and share communion. Music includes Ola Gjello’s Ubi caritas and Ave verum corpus by Jessica French.

April 18 + 7:30 pm+ Good Friday

This powerful service recalls the bitter suffering and death of Jesus that leads to new life. The story of Passion will be told through the William Byrd setting of The Passion according to St. John sung by the LCH Choir.

April 19 + 7:30 pm + Easter Vigil

Following the service of readings and the kindling of the new fire, we move from darkness into the light of resurrection. The resurrection will be welcomed with Will Todd’s Jazz Missa Brevis, with full jazz combo, traditional Easter hymns, and the first Eucharist of Easter.

April 20 + 10:00 am + Easter Sunday

Christ is risen! Join us for our 10:00 am festival choral service, featuring a brass quintet to add to the celebratory nature of this worship service. The LCH Choir will share anthems of Easter joy by Howard Helvey and Elaine Hagenberg.

Join Us for Lenten Wednesdays • 5:45 pm (through April 9)

Posted on by

Members and friends prepare the plates for Lenten SuppersLenten Soup and Salad Suppers

Wednesdays, March 12, 19, and 26 and April 2 and 9 • 5:45 pm in the Hörmann Courtyard

Please 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.

Worship: Holy Lament

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.

Welcoming Pr. Lesley Radius, Our Interim Pastor

Posted on by

Pr. Lesley RadiusPr. 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.

Blue Christmas • Wed., Dec. 18, at 7:00 pm

Posted on by

The Longest Night: A Service for Grief and Remembrance during the Holidays

This service of Blue Christmas recognizes that for some of us the holidays can be a difficult time, full of more emotion than joy or cheer. In a season of conversations around shared tables, of family, and of gift-giving, some of us grieve the loss of loved ones, the struggle of finances, the feeling of loneliness, or the despair of a world unraveling. Christian hope trusts that, even in these darkest moments, God remains with us. This is the journey of Advent; we are not left alone even in the darkest places.

This service begins at 7:00 pm and will only be offered in person. All are welcome.

A Season of Preparation—Advent at LCH

Posted on by
December 1 • Advent I
10:00 am Sunday Worship: Signs and Strength
7:30 pm 50th Advent Procession: Hallock’s “O” Antiphons
December 8 • Advent II
10:00 am Festival of Carols in Brass Re-Imagined
December 9 • First Mondays Concert
7:00 pm Sunday Worship: Promises and Portents
December 15 • Advent III
10:00 am Sunday Worship: Proclamations and Prophets
7:30 pm Advent Compline
December 18 • Blue Christmas
7:00 pm A Service of Remembrance with Hope
December 22 • Advent IV
10:00 am Sunday Worship: Blessings and Bethlehem

All are welcome to these services. All services, except for the Blue
Christmas worship, will also livestream on the LCH Facebook page.

Memorial Service for Pr. Jeff, followed by JeffFest • Sat. Oct. 19

Posted on by

Pr. Jeff on their boatPastor Jeff’s Memorial Service is scheduled for 4:00 pm on Saturday, October 19, at LCH. Pacifica Synod Bishop Dave Nagler will preach. The service will be live streamed on the LCH Facebook page. Overflow seating will be available in Isenberg Hall.

LutherFest is now JeffFest and is scheduled to begin at approximately 6:00 pm on Saturday, October 19, in the LCH Courtyard. Brats, salads, beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages will be provided. Please bring a non-perishable dessert, as the LCH refrigerator is full. Volunteers from other Hukilau churches are being sought to help with cooking and set-up in order to allow LCH member and friends to attend the service.

On Sunday, October 20, in the 10:00 am worship service, Bishop Dave Nagler will be preaching, and Pastor Ruth Peterson will lead worship. Kimberly, a social worker from Joy of Christ, will also be with us and is making herself available for emotional support.

Compline will not be sung Sunday evening.

Our sincere thanks to all the clergy, active and retired, the bishop, and many others who are assisting the LCH family through this very difficult time. And mahalo to each of you for continuing to support one another and the Lilley family.




The Lilley family has asked that memorial gifts made in honor of Pr. Jeff go to the Hawai‘i Health and Harm Reduction Center (H3RC) for their transgender program. Checks may be made out to Lutheran Church of Honolulu and sent to the church (1730 Punahou Street, Honolulu, HI 96822) or made via PayPal using the button to the left.

Holy Week and Easter Worship at LCH

Posted on by

March 24 + 10:00 am + Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week. The service begins in the courtyard as a brass quartet leads worshippers in a procession with palm leaves around the church, recalling Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The service then moves inside for a reading of the Passion Gospel and Holy Communion.

March 28 + 7:30 pm + Maundy Thursday

We remember Jesus’ command to “love one another” as we wash feet and share communion. Music includes Duruflé’s “Ubi caritas” and “Tantum ergo” by Jessica French.

March 29 + 7:30 pm + Good Friday

This powerful service recalls the bitter suffering and death of Jesus that leads to new life. The story of the Passion will be told through William Byrd’s setting of the “The Passion according to St. John” sung by the LCH Choir.

March 30 + 7:30 pm + Easter Vigil

Following the service of readings and the kindling of the New Fire, we move from darkness into the light of resurrection. The resurrection will be welcomed with Will Todd’s “Jazz Missa Brevis,” with full jazz combo, traditional Easter hymns, and the first Eucharist of Easter.

March 31 + 10:00 am + Easter Sunday

Christ is risen! Join us for our 10:00 am festival choral service, featuring a brass quintet to add a celebratory element to worship.

Lenten Wednesday Evenings • February 21 through March 20

Posted on by

Lenten SuppersLenten Soup and Salad Suppers at 6:00 pm in the Hörmann Courtyard

Please 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 6:00 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 Mary Jo Estes or call the LCH office for more information.

Evening Prayer: Healing and Wholeness through Our Senses

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 6:00 pm in the church courtyard. This year’s Lenten theme, Healing and Wholeness through Our Senses, builds on our Stewardship theme for this year.

All are welcomed and encouraged to share this intimate prayer service and supper with us as we journey, in brokenness and healing, through the Lenten season.

Lenten Wednesday Evening are February 21 and 28 and March 6, 13, and 20, beginning at 6:00 pm in the Hörmann Courtyard. All are welcome.

Ash Wednesday Worship + Wed., Feb. 14 + 7:30 pm

Posted on by

Imposition of Ashes on Ash WednesdayThe season of Lent begins with a very special worship on Ash Wednesday, February 14 at 7:30 pm in the Nave.

This beautiful evening service begins the Lenten season of reflection, prayer, and preparation as we hear the words from Genesis 3:19, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Ashes, a sign of mourning and repentance, are placed on our foreheads as a reminder of our mortality, but the ashes are in the shape of a cross, a sign of promise, and life, and hope.

Ash Wednesday—and the whole season of Lent—calls us to reflect and remember the precious gift of life and love that God has given us in creation and community and to re-center our thoughts and spirit on what truly matters.

As we gather around the communion table in worship on Ash Wednesday, we see our neighbor with the same smudged cross on her head, recall that our mortality is joined to hers forever in Christ, and remember that together we share the joy of life with all of God’s world.