I have found my calling. I have heard the voice of the Lord! And I am bringing my clubs.
Pictured at left is the Koolau Golf Club in Kaneohe, Hawaii. Located just northeast of Honolulu, Koolau is an 18 hole course known as one of the toughest courses in the nation.
And now, to my glee, its a CHURCH too, baby! I am not making this up.
It seems that First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu has just purchased this golf course. This is just about the best news I have heard in years. Its a golf course, a club house, a restaurant, a catering business, and a place to deepen your faith. Its in Hawaii, for heaven's sake! Could things possibly be any better than this?
I heard this story from a good friend at my church, who just visited the new and improved First Pres Honolulu. My friend, who is in her "golden years" said she heard a wonderful sermon and enjoyed meeting the warm people of this congregation. She reported that after the Sunday service she went to find the ladies room and discovered, on her way back that, "the clubhouse bar was really rockin'!". This is my kind of place.
Astronomers tell us that wormholes in space may lead us to a parallel universe. Given this, I am convinced that somewhere on this golf course there exists a wormhole leading directly to Heaven. This is too good to be true!
I plan on finding the portal to Glory; I think its near the 12th green, in the rough.
And now, to my glee, its a CHURCH too, baby! I am not making this up.
It seems that First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu has just purchased this golf course. This is just about the best news I have heard in years. Its a golf course, a club house, a restaurant, a catering business, and a place to deepen your faith. Its in Hawaii, for heaven's sake! Could things possibly be any better than this?
I heard this story from a good friend at my church, who just visited the new and improved First Pres Honolulu. My friend, who is in her "golden years" said she heard a wonderful sermon and enjoyed meeting the warm people of this congregation. She reported that after the Sunday service she went to find the ladies room and discovered, on her way back that, "the clubhouse bar was really rockin'!". This is my kind of place.
Astronomers tell us that wormholes in space may lead us to a parallel universe. Given this, I am convinced that somewhere on this golf course there exists a wormhole leading directly to Heaven. This is too good to be true!
I plan on finding the portal to Glory; I think its near the 12th green, in the rough.
6 comments:
I'm doing my best to withhold judgement... but what is a church doing buying a golf course?
Ben:
Buy me a bobblehead, and the first round of golf and beers in Kaneohe is on me!
I'm guessing that we know where the next Presbytery and Synod meetings are going to be held.
Makes one reconsider leaving the PCUSA. At least for a minute...
Steve: I think you found another "answer" to your big question you posted a while back.
Hi, I found your blogsite, and I am hoping you will let me post these comments. I am a member of the church which currently meets at the Koolau Golf Club.
The problem First Prez was facing was that we had totally outgrown our prior church property. Our church attendance has been steadily growing for a number of years. Not only did we not have enough parking and our facilities were maxed out, we were starting to drive our neighbors crazy in the residential neighborhood we were located in.
We spent several years looking for a new property to build a church. However, everything was way out of our budget. Hawaii is very expensive. Purchasing a sufficient piece of vacant land (if you can find it) and building a new church would cost $25-40 million or more, which is why you don't see many new churches being built in Hawaii.
Acquiring the golf club was unexpected and providential. And it's not as crazy as it sounds. We use the income from the golf operations to help cover the costs of the property and maintenance. We now have adequate parking and room for eventual expansion. We use the club's ballroom for our sanctuary on Sundays (each Saturday night volunteers convert the ballroom into a church, complete with organ, cross and risers for the choir), and are in the process of reconfiguring that area so that eventually we can hold twice as many people as in our old sanctuary.
We also can use the club's meeting rooms for Sunday school and ministry classes, and a former indoor golf putting area downstairs has now been transformed into our children's ministry with a wonderful play area for the kids. One potential longterm goal is to convert space in the club to make it available for use by other community ministries.
I understand the golf club operator is happy, because we are not motivated from squeezing a profit out of the property (in the form of rents that would be paid by the operator), but are more concerned that that the property is well maintained.
In a way, we are not that different from churches that meet in movie theaters or school cafeterias. We are not about having a fancy stained-glass sanctuary, but are trying to reach as many people for Jesus as we can.
If you or any of your blog readers are ever in Hawaii, I hope you will come visit us Sunday morning for worship and to sit in on a Sunday school class if you wish. We are located at 45-550 Kionaole Road in Kaneohe on the Island of Oahu. I think you will enjoy it. You can find out more about us at our website by Googling "First Presbyterian Koolau."
Thanks for letting me post these comments, and additionally I just wanted to let you know that II Corinthians 12:9 is the verse that personally keeps me going. His grace is sufficient in *all* things.
Jim
My husband and I attended First Prez at their old Honolulu site for three fabulous years while he was on active duty with the Marine Corps. We still miss the wonderful sermons and the fellowship, and regret missing the move to the new facility. Five years later we are still listening to/reading the weekly sermon on the website. We are looking forward to the day we can visit, but are trying to time the visit with a HIM (Hawaiian Island Ministries) conference. Dianna & Kent K
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