A very warm welcoming community with the church preaching the word of God mixed with lots of…read morelocals. I would definitely go there again next time I'm in that area.

there's a lot to like about this church (see my previous review)... so I was greatly saddened to…read moreattend service here in late June and have the Pastor (Kahu) start the service grumbling about what a difficult week it had been.... since the Supreme Court struck down DOMA , giving federal recognition to same-sex marriages. This was not what I expected to hear coming from the pulpit of a UCC church. As I left, I told him I disagreed, and that I knew in my heart Jesus would have been celebrating the decision. Kahu Brian, your words are important. Your words are not going to change someone's sexual orientation... this is how God created them. But your words can drive the LGBT kids in your school to feelings of alienation, desperation, running away, running off-island, and even suicide. Some studies estimate gay and lesbian kids are 4 times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual kids http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_among_LGBT_youth. If you have several hundred kids attending your summer program, statistically speaking you have several dozen LGBT kids in the program whether you know it or not.... do you really want them to be hearing the message that they are not welcome in your church? Also, Kahu Brian, it seems quite likely to me that you have at least one LGBT person leading your worship service... maybe they are not openly LGBT... but how do you think they feel when they hear your words? Do you really think Jesus would not love them just as they are? That Jesus would not be willing to celebrate and affirm their loving, comitted relationships through marriage? If you want to learn about the DOMA decision in the words of the 81 year old woman who filed it, please watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blcHIfTkHRs ....favorite quote from this video: "there is no wrong time to seek justice" To quote Bishop Desmond Tutu's recent remarks: ""I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this" Yes, some Christians still choose to pick phrases from the Bible that justify their discrimination and rejection of LGBT people.... just like ignorant bigoted Christians of previous generations used the bible relentlessly to justify their denials of equal rights to women, and to justify slavery and oppression of other races, and fight against interracial marriage (illegal in many states just 45 years ago!). Jesus never said a word against gays. He was however willing to break the rules of the old testament to bring justice and healing (Luke 13:10-17) and rightly called out those who chastised him hypocrites for picking and choosing which old testament rules they would keep or break, when the need for healing was obvious. He also said "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." (John 10:16). I know calmly and fully in my heart that Jesus would have (did!) welcome lgbt people to his church. We too are his other sheep. Yet do many of today's Christian churches never connect the dots between their staunch upholding of last century's proudly ignorant and discriminatory viewpoints and their declining memberships today. If you are still with me down at the bottom of this review, I close with this simple message: please watch this beautiful short video by Macklemore titled "Same Love" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlVBg7_08n0

Welcoming, warm congregation and sermons are in a quaint historic building. Everyone there has the…read morealoha spirit!

A real gem, and for some reason not what I expected, from driving by…read more This church seems to be known in the community as "the Chinese church" but in fact, in 1956, they changed their name from the "Hilo Chinese Christian Church" to "The United Community Church" in order to express their openness to persons other than Chinese. The building is an older local plantation style structure with a red chinese-type roof with the curved-up temple corners; inside, it's warm and honest Chinese-flavored early century Christian decor, somewhat worn by many decades of service, but clean and modest and very comfortable. On my visit, the small congregation was a very diverse mix of asian, caucasian, and polynesian. I got an AMAZING welcome, where I was warmly led around and introduced to each member of the church in turn. This did not bother me, although I'm somewhat shy, because you could tell how really sincere and warm they were. I loved this church! I like a church with a sense of humor, and at the service I attended, they laughed a LOT... and cried at tender moments... they showed a very sincere love for their fellow church members and leadership. It was very touching and engaging. The main pastor is a really dynamic asian woman, who was both really funny, and very energetic in her prayer style... the type of pastor who does not seem to be reciting things by rote, but really speaking from the heart to Jesus. Another much older male minister delivered the sermon the day I was there... I was a bit skeptical at first because at first he seemed like he was maybe nodding off and pretty deaf, one eye was looking off in another direction, but when he got up to speak he delivered a really terrific, interesting message! One story he included in his sermon was about his time on Guam in WW2 when Guam was captured by the Japanese and they banned all Christian churches! He was great. He said "Christianity is not for cowards!" I liked that they started their service with prayer, instead of announcements. I liked that they did not waste time during the service with walking around and hugging everyone and chit-chatting, they did that before or after the service. They have a pianist who accompanied their traditional hymns... but I didn't see any type of choir. The only thing I didn't like, was that at the end, as soon as she began her postlude, instead of sitting and listening, everyone just jumped up and announced "service is over" and started going off for refreshments. I find that somewhat disrespectful to the musician... I prefer to sit in silence during the postlude, for a last moment of reflection. 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 the first church I've been to on the big island that made me really excited to go back.

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.

Unexpected visit created a memory that we will treasure…read more My wife and I saw a sign for a Catholic church while walking to the nearby beach from the cruise port in Hilo. So as we were walking back, we made a small detour, expecting to see the outside only. As we were admiring the Alter of Our Lady garden, we were invited by a genial older couple to admire the inside of the church. They told us about the church and the murals inside. It is the only Catholic church in Hawaii with a Hawaiian name, 'Malia Puka O Kalani' meaning 'Mary, Gate of Heaven'. It is one of two Catholic churches in Hilo, and is part of the Diochese of Honolulu. It's a small chapel, with a mural near the roofline on both sides. We learned that the murals were painted by the local artist, Ken Charon, representing the full cycle to night. It shows as if the viewer is in a Mauloa Canoe, going towards the islands. As we were admiring the inside, the pastor of the church, Father Niko stopped in for an enlightening conversation. We learned the couple (role of music directors) had just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. The priest is of Samoan heritage and had spent parts of his life in the area where we currently live. He mentioned that the parish tries to transport people coming off of cruise port to come to Sunday service at 9am. They also have a 5pm Saturday mass as well. As we were finishing, Father Niko asked multiple times if he could drive us back to the port. We didn't want to take up any more of his time, so we politely declined and said our goodbyes. As we walked back, it began to rain (as it often does in Hilo). We decided to take a different route back, and moved to the side to let a lone SUV drive by. Nope..it was Father Niko, and he had come to give us a ride since it had begun raining. Obviously, we couldn't decline that... That simple act of kindness from Father Niko was one of the main things I will remember from our trip. This church (along with the nearby beach and the general store) really made me want to come back to Keaukaha again. Here's hoping that it's possible.

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

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.

Great little Lutheran church. Everyone is super friendly. We came from a huge church on the…read moremainland so it was nice to have such a small congregation. Pastor Mark is awesome, he keeps it interesting and has a sense of humor on top.... Only been going a few months but we are treated like long time members. Would definitely recommend Christ Lutheran to anyone looking for a place to worship!

Visited in November of 2019 and found this church to be friendly, warm and welcoming. I told my…read morehusband that this would be our church home at some point, I felt it in my spirit. We lived in California! The Lord lead us to move to the Big Island and we are now members of Christ Lutheran Church. The Spirit is active and moving here! The Lord is at work in this place through these people! I'm so happy to be a part of Christ Lutheran Church and the ministry here!

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.

While driving we saw the cutest tiny church so we stopped. It's totally adorable…read more Church doors was open. I was able to get on my knees just to say thank you God for everything.