Nice and welcoming church. Enjoyed the homily. The church is clean . The florals are beautiful!read more

Very nice and warm people here! I worked a charity event there today and met some wonderful people…read moreand new friends. Peace and love always!

I'll give them 3 stars for now, A-OK, because they gave me a warm welcome, but my experience is…read morelimited to one visit and I don't claim to really understand their denomination. Their service was more what I call a "praise and worship" type service where people raise their hands up in the air, which for some reason is very difficult for me. I mean, I CAN raise my arms up in the air, but to do it in church, was surprisingly difficult. It's not the way of my people, LOL. I did try though. The building is new and neat (quite far down Wright Road), the pastor and his wife live elsewhere on the island but come up to Volcano for the church, there's another woman that plays piano... these leadership people gave me a very southern mainland feel with big hair and lots of hairspray. The small congregation, though, was a diverse mix of Volcanites, very friendly. For music they have a young guy on drums and a few women playing guitar and ukulele, as I recall. Contemporary. Lyrics on a screen, lots of singing, contemporary inspirational music, no choir. Pastor's message was mild. Anyway, they seem to be trying to position themselves as "the village church" but I think their denomination is Assembly of God which is Pentecostal. This denomination nationally can be very anti-gay, which made me wary, although I did not experience anything negative at this local church in my first visit. I would have to question them on this more thoroughly before I got more involved. I am as the lord made me, and know in my heart that Jesus would welcome me in his church... so I will not tolerate or support with my time or talents, 20th century bigotry hiding under the guise of Christianity. I hope I don't find that here!

Thank you Open Arms Metropolitan Community Church for bringing an energy of diversity back into…read moreworship, and reminding me of dear friends from the past. I've known about Open Arms MCC for a while, but today was the first time I've attended a service. They meet on Sundays at 10 am at the Ainaloa Longhouse, which is a temporary worship location while they grow towards a permanent home. Basically the Open Arms MCC premise is "Serving ALL God's children with Aloha!!" .... a church for people who can't take the rank hypocrisy of so much organized religion; a church for people who have been actively pushed away from other churches because they demanded equality for themselves, for women, and LGBT minorities. Wikipedia has a good read about Metropolitan Community Churches and all their "firsts" in equal rights here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me... . "No matter who you are you are welcome -- and equal--- here." THIS is the teaching of Jesus. So easily overlooked by the divisive haters who call themselves Christian in our nation today. Pastor Pressley Sutherland arrived recently to lead the church, and he delivered a thoughtful and powerful service.... he preached, he played keyboards, and he sang--- he's got a great voice and seems like a really good musician in addition to being a good preacher. His message --- like all the good messages--- somehow seemed to speak directly to me and the issues I am currently struggling with participating in the music program of a much more conservative (and discriminatory) local church. Overall the service was comfortable contemporary Christian, yet also included beautiful poetry from an Islamic woman poet and an amazing India Arie song. The message topic today was "Cynical and Tired of Religion? Me Too !" A man I chatted with after the service told me they're about 50% heterosexual and 50% LGBTQ. So basically it was a super diverse congregation. I could feel a real sense of caring and welcome and community.... and concern for social justice.... EXACTLY what you SHOULD find at a church. They don't have all the formality and assets of your more established churches, but guess what, neither did Jesus, and it didn't hinder his message. My only minor criticisms are that I'm a bit of a germophobe, and while I applaud their open communion, I would probably prefer if there were less people touching my bread as part of that ritual. Also, plenty of bibles but no hymnbooks in sight at all (I would prefer a hymnbook over just trying to guess the melody of unfamiliar praise songs). Anyway, overall I LOVED the service, and am really looking forward to going back. You should check them out also. FINAL NOTE-- MAKUU MARKET IS RIGHT DOWN THE STREET SO AFTER CHURCH YOU CAN HIT THAT UP FOR SOME AMAZING FARMER'S MARKET FINDS AND GRINDS. A PERFECT PUNA SUNDAY MORNING.

What a gorgeous little church. The interior was all hand painted. Father Damian is a historic…read morefigure in Hilo. The church has been moved several times due to volcano eruptions to save this historic structure. The termites are busy as I day evidence on the wooden benches etc. A nice historic site. Recommended.

This place takes a minute or two to get there, but worth it. Serine and spiritual. Tucked in the…read morehills. Donate what you can while there. Murals are fantastic

great people and the pastors are ve down to earth...I enjoy spending time there!!..the y make me…read morefeel like family!!

Whether you are visiting Hilo or you live here, this church is recommended to you as a place to…read moreexperience healing and grace. Mahalo to pastors Kevin and Kimi Hall who have inspired many in their community because of their willingness to serve. Central Christian Church has recently adopted the name 'House of Glory.' May we all know the many blessings that are our true destiny.

Yes! Pastor Kevin and his Wife Kimberly Hill have an excellent ministry. I attend this church for…read moreyears and both have great messages to help you study the Holy Bible and up lift your spirits. Pastor Kevin Hill is an excellent teacher of the Holy Bible and his Wife can really open your eyes to give your mind heart and soul to Jesus. for their is No other way. One of the messages i remember about Pastor Kevin is he read to us Psalm 91, and how we must prepare ourselves to go into battle against the enemy satan and all his evil workers. Thank you Pastor Kevin and Kimberly Hill. God Bless you and your Family, brother's and sister's. And WE ALL SAY Amen to God and Jesus our highest and Savior of ALL

Engage Church is a vibrant community of families and young adults seeking to love God and serve the…read morecommunity. The earlier service at 4:30pm draws many young families, and the 6:30pm service has mostly college students and young adults. Located in a strip mall at the corner of Lanikaula and Laukapu, Engage really does seek to engage people with the love of Jesus. Services have energetic worship with contemporary Christian music in English, and sermons feel very relevant. They are directed mostly toward the millennial generation, but people of all ages can benefit and relate. When I visited recently, Pastor John was going through a series from Francis Chan on his book "Forgotten God." The message felt clear and challenging, and the pastor really encouraged the congregation to consider how to put scripture into action in our lives rather than just hear what's being said. We had an opportunity to write down our thoughts on a response card. Engage Church feels very welcoming to newcomers! They take a break after the first worship set, and people can grab snacks, which included chili nachos and watermelon when I visited. Surprisingly, the church encourages people to use their phones during service, whether to look up scripture or even post their thoughts to social media using a church hashtag. I work with college students, and this is a church in encourage my students to attend.

If you are looking for a place to be inspired in your Christian walk and get top-notch teaching,…read moreHMC is the place. Senior Pastor Daniel Kikawa has a great heart for other nations and Associate Pastor Creed Lundsford's passion is for the lost in our community. To learn more about the Bible, come to hear and learn from Master Teachers in their "Through the Bible" class.