The 2022 Church Leaders Event will be held on Saturday, February 26, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., via Zoom. The title of the event, "Oh God, What Now?", reflects what many of us have been asking—especially over the course of the ongoing pandemic. While we cannot guarantee that attendees will leave with the answers they want, we hope to create dialogue, entertain questions, and offer a sense of reassurance to get us through the meantime. 

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This Leaders Event will be unlike any other before. The Hawai‘i Conference has traditionally held an annual Church Leaders Event in the spring to help orient newly elected church leaders to the functions of their positions. This year, the Leaders Event will take a different direction, focusing on conversations for leaders to connect with one another and be encouraged in their roles.

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Our conversations will be built around two articles by Susan Beaumont:
 

1. Leading in an in-between season
   "The usual tools of leadership aren’t effective during times like the one the church finds itself in now -- those liminal seasons when the path forward isn’t clear."
    

2. Innovating Into an Unknown Future
   "Plans create an artificial sense of control, but they cannot resolve the deep disorientation of a liminal season—a season in which something has ended but a new thing is not yet ready to begin. In fact, the wrong plan will distract you from the innovation needed to thrive in the next chapter."

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Rev. Susan Beaumont is a consultant, coach, author, and spiritual director who is known for her innovative work in leadership dynamics within large churches. "Susan is known for engaging the best of business practice, filtered through the lens of careful theological reflection. She moves easily between discernment and decision making, and nurtures the soul of the leader along with the soul of the institution."

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Five panelists from different islands and church contexts within the Hawai‘i Conference will share their realities and reflections.

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JOHN CARR (Kaua‘i)

John lives on Kaua’i in Lihu’e, with his wife and two sons, where he pastors Līhu‘e Christian Church. He has been a church planter in New Zealand, an associate pastor in Northern Ireland and Kansas City, and an orphan care worker and small business entrepreneur in Haiti.

 

CASSIE CHEE (O‘ahu)

Cassie Chee (she/her) is a Community Organizer with Faith Action for Community Equity. Her roots are in Okinawa, Korea, and China and her family have been settlers in Hawaiʻi for a few generations. Cassie was raised on Duwamish land (Kirkland, Washington) and now calls Honolulu home. She attends Pearl City Community Church and is building power locally for a more just and loving world.

 

FLORENTINO CORDOVA (Maui)

Born and raised in rural Eastern New Mexico in a small village called

Mosquero, Florentino has been the pastor at Iao UCC since March 2017. Tino's educational journey began with a Certificate of Information Processing Specialist from Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho (1992), BA in Religious Studies from Edgewood College, Madison, Wisconsin (2009), and a Master of Divinity and a Certificate of Sexuality & Religion from Pacific School of Religion (PSR), Berkeley, CA (2013). He was ordained in 2013 through the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches and received “standing” in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), which was then transferred to the United Church of Christ, Hawai‘i Conference, Tri-Isle Association in Maui. “We encourage others by leading with the example of our actions.” —Rev. Tino Cordova

 

DEBBIE WONG YUEN (Hawai‘i Island)

Debbie Wong Yuen has been the Licensed Pastor at Kauaha‘ao Congregational Church in Waiohinu, Ka‘u on Hawai‘i Island for ten years, where she has been an active member serving in various positions for more than 25 years. She was born and raised a few years in Kailua, O‘ahu, then her family moved to Hilo, Hawai‘i where she grew up. She and her husband moved to his hometown in Waiohinu, Ka‘u. They later moved to Pahala, Ka‘u where they raised their three children.