Who doesn't like a bazaar? Especially one with lots of grandma made quilts and craft work, home…read morebaked goodies, piles and piles of second hand clothes, sushi rice, preserves, local veggies, books from the 70's, bags of cinder and all kine of miscellaneous knick knacks. I walked away with a 1968 French provincial and northern italy cookbooks, got my recipe to make cassoulet! Just watch out for the grandmas as they fight their way towards the bargains!

This is a temple and activity center for the village of Papaikou. We just attended the Hawaii…read moreBamboo Society annual Bamboo festival there. Amazing view, tons of useful info and many nice folks.

Thanks to Damon Tucker's blog (www.damontucker.com) I read about a lecture at this temple, by a…read morevisiting Buddhist scholar from Oregon, Dr Mark Unno. I am so glad I went! The building is a very cool old structure which they are working at fixing up and restoring. There's some unique trees on the grounds... that weird giant pine tree is actually a species of very primitive "living fossil" from the Mesozoic (as in dinosaurs!) period. Also known as a Monkey-puzzle tree, because it looks like even a monkey would have a hard time climbing it. Another tree is a cutting of a cutting of a cutting of the tree that the Buddha was sitting under when he found enlightenment. I need to find that tree and sit under it! Inside the building... wow... I did not expect the whole over-the-top temple display in the front with multiple elaborate colorful bright altars. (The pews are sized for an old Japanese lady so that part was not so comfortable for me) The Resident Minister is a young "local boy" named David Fujimoto. He gave me a warm welcome, as did several members of the congregation. There was a heavy incense smell, and we did some prayer chanting in Japanese before the lecture... i did my best to follow along... it was printed phonetically in a little red book. The minister and the lecturer were both down-to-earth, casual, funny men. I did not expect to laugh as much as I did. The lecturer started by taking several minutes to stare thoroughly at each person in the audience. This was a strange quiet moment, but I liked it. He saw me. We communicated in silence. He didn't get into anything too technical. He talked about his cats, his aging parents, and somehow moved from those topics to the upcoming collision between the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies. He basically spoke about our search for meaning in life and finding our place in the universe. It was very similar to what I hear in Christian churches if you substitute the words "nature" "the universe" and "life" for the Christian word "God." He made a lot of sense, and I did feel that I walked away a little more enlightened and at peace. They have Sunday services at 9 am. Plus I read in their newsletter that they volunteered at this years first Big Island Aids Walk. Very cool. I'll be back! I definitely got a five star feeling from this place.

Friendly local Pure Land Buddhist temple with a historic connection to a historic place. About a…read moremile from their historic cemetery. A different part of local Hawai'i that too many visitors don't try to find out about. If you can come for the Obon Festival time, that would be perfect. If you're just dropping by on the way to other nearby sites, read about the history here: https://www.hakalauhome.com/honohina-hongwanji.html

First time that I went to church services and I join with all of my friends and I enjoy come to…read morethis church because I love meeting new friends and everyone that attend this church services and I enjoy it!!!

New hope is a seeker friendly church that has good music and sound teaching. Although the teaching…read moreis not expository, I often come away having heard that I need to deepen my reliance upon the only true God.

I got a nice warm welcome here when I visited…read more Their sanctuary is modern but very attractive; they also host a lot of classical concerts here. Their pastor seemed very cool and smart.... one lady was telling me she first met him while on a pilgrimage or something in Jerusalem and then found him again in Hilo after she moved to Hawaii, she seemed to regard him very highly. Their music was a mixture of traditional organ and piano, with four Praise-type singers who performed up front, instead of a choir. I didn't really like that they do this "passing of the peace" meet-and-greet in the middle of the service where everybody gets up and walks around and hugs people and chit-chats-- to me this is a waste of service time and should be done as part of fellowship before or after the service, not during. They're United Church of Christ, which is the coolest contemporary Christian denomination...a much smarter denomination than the "Christians" you usually hear spewing hate on the evening news. On the national level, UCC was the first Protestant denomination to ordain an African-American pastor in 1785, the first woman pastor in 1853, and the first openly gay minister in 1972.

This is a true family of God - I wish we could come here more often. Since I was here last time,…read morethe congregation has been busy maintaining and upgrading their facility so now it is beautiful and welcoming.

I visited this church a few years ago when I was working an undercover assignment on the Islands…read more The family of God here are just that, they treat you like a family. I only wished that I had had more time to get to know the pastor and congregation. If your in Hilo on Sunday, go there and join them for the service.

They were having a bake sale the first day I went, that was a big plus!!! LOL. Got my first…read moreJaboticaba jelly. I wanted to check them out partly because they're UCC, and their choir director is this amazingly talented local Hawaiian musician who went off and got a music degree from Harvard University and then came back to Hilo. His choir wasn't singing the day I went, though, it was the week for the polynesian church that also worships there to perform. They were sweet enough. I went back to hear the regular choir another day, it was pleasant enough, but it seems like he's probably just getting started building up their music program. They seem to have a good sized membership, leaning toward the asian (Japanese?) side, although with some ethnic diversity. Pastor seemed like a real nice man, not too dynamic the day I was there, in the latter part of his career with the wisdom and steadiness that that implies. I liked him. The people seemed really nice, which is what's really important of course. The church is the people, not the building. Their building is not much to write about, kind of a drab skating-rink type structure. I don't care for the big screen up in the front of the church where they put up the hymn words and then random pictures of Jesus and pretty scenery throughout the service. To me this is distracting, I prefer church to be one of the few places these days where you are not staring at a screen. Finally in my list of nit-picking, I also didn't really like that they do this "passing of the peace" meet-and-greet in the middle of the service where they interrupt the service and everybody gets up and walks around and hugs people and chit-chats-- to me this is a waste of service time and should be done as part of fellowship before or after the service, not during. They're United Church of Christ, which is the coolest contemporary Christian denomination...a much smarter denomination than the "Christians" you usually hear spewing hate on the evening news. On the national level, the UCC was the first Protestant denomination to ordain an African-American pastor in 1785, the first woman pastor in 1853, and the first openly gay minister in 1972.

Always a pleasant experience coming here. The people who attend are full of love and acceptance…read more I've dropped off attendance, but look forward to returning sooner rather than later