Candidate Berman

MEET THE REV. ELIZABETH "LIBBY" BERMAN

The Rev. Elizabeth "Libby" Berman
Rector, Church of the Holy Nativity
Honolulu, HI

Aloha,

I am the Rev. Libby Berman. I am privileged to have come to know many of you while serving on O`ahu for the last six years as Rector of the Church of the Holy Nativity. I am honored by the Standing Committee’s decision to include me on this slate.

I grew up having already fallen in love with Hawai`i. Three generations of my mother’s family have lived on O`ahu. When I first visited at age ten, I was enchanted by the beauty of this place and also deeply moved by what I now have come to know as mana, the spirit of God expressed in the land, sea, and people here. Having been blessed to come to live in Hawai`i, I have relished all the time I have had to experience God’s creation in this place.

As a young person in South Dakota, I participated regularly in activities at my Episcopal parish. I most valued the quiet time I spent pondering words in the prayer book, though, wondering about the meaning of the Eucharist as I helped our priest set the table, and experiencing delight in the lighting of fire in a dark church at the Easter Vigil. During those early years, I was drawn quietly into the Mystery of God.

After high school, I left home to attend college on the East Coast. I attended church at the Episcopal Chaplaincy every Sunday. During summers, I returned home to serve at Thunderhead Episcopal Camp as counselor and program director. Those summers opened me to a deeper call. God was in the campfire and singing, in opened eyes as Lakota and Anglo kids truly saw one another, and out in the empty fields, where God spoke through the prairie grasses. In discernment for ordination, I described TEC as a significant place where I had experienced connection with God.

After college, I worked in higher education and joined a local, progressive Episcopal Church in the Boston area. We had frank conversations about inequality and about compelling ways of working across differences in ethnicity and class. In my late twenties, I answered God’s call to ordination. I attended Episcopal Divinity School, where I knew I could explore justice ministry more deeply.

Over the last twenty years, I have served in parish ministry in several capacities. For seven years, I served as Canon for Congregations in the Diocese of Massachusetts. Throughout these years, I have always been engaged in projects that involve budgets, buildings, and strategy. But my best work always comes after I find that deep connection to God and others with whom I am working.

I have been blessed by beloved family and friends. My husband, Mark, and I have two daughters in their mid-20s; our older daughter is a teacher on O`ahu and our younger works in London. Our parents on both sides gave us incredibly solid grounding, particularly in our Christian and Jewish traditions, and we love our two brothers and their families very much.

New! Candidate Essay Responses

(Posted April 8, 2026)

Once the candidates for bishop were selected, three questions were presented to each for a response. The questions are listed below along with candidate response:

Spiritual Autobiography:
As a candidate discerning a call to serve as Bishop in Hawai‘i, reflect on your spiritual journey and formation. Describe how your faith and spiritual values have developed over time - highlighting formative experiences, significant turning points, and how these have influenced your ministry. Discuss how your spirituality shapes your vision for leadership and service, especially within the unique and diverse context of Hawai‘i.
What are your vision and strategies for moving the Diocese toward the church of the future, considering current financial, structural, and cultural realities facing our people, congregations, and diocese?
Embodying Aloha:
‘Aloha’ is central to life in Hawai‘i and speaks deeply to our values as a church and community.
What does ‘aloha’ mean to you personally, and how would you embody and express the spirit of aloha as Bishop—in your leadership, relationships, and ministry?

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Candidate Resume

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