This page was formerly called the Environmental Justice and Creation Care.  
For The Episcopal Church's Creation Care webpage, click HERE.  Mahalo for visiting!

KAHUAOLA: GUARDIANS OF LIFE

​As the bearers of ancestral knowledge, made in Godʻs image, we take hold of our responsibility for the reciprocal relationship with all Godʻs creation, in service of each and every place across Hawaiʻi where our feet are planted.

He aliʻi ka ʻāina, he kauwā ke kanaka. #531
The land is a chief, man is her servant.

​ ʻAʻohe hana nui ke alu ʻia. #142
No task is too big when done together by all. 

*Source: Pukui, M. K. (1983). ‘Ōlelo No‘eau Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings. Honolulu, Hawaii: Bishop Museum Press. ʻŌlelo Noeau compiled by Johanna Kapōmaikaʻi Stone and Danielle Espiritu
In Jesus, God so loved the whole world.  We follow Jesus, so we love the world God loves. Concerned for the global climate emergency, drawing on diverse approaches for our diverse contexts, we commit to form and restore loving, liberating, life-giving relationships with all of Creation.  ​The Episcopal Church’s Covenant for the Care of Creation is a commitment to practice loving formation, liberating advocacy and life-giving conservation as individuals, congregations, ministries and dioceses. Explore the Covenant HERE and sign up for the newsletter and opportunities to formally adopt the Covenant in your community HERE.

Here in the Diocese of Hawai'i, the Environmental Justice and Creation Care Task Force was formed June 2021 from a larger appeal by The Episcopal Church to address our world's environmental crisis.  In January 2025, the task force was renamed Kahuaola (Guardians of Life), and is led by the Revs. Jenn Latham and Brianna Lloyd, along with other volunteers from around the Diocese.  Together, they raise awareness and take action in our communities.  If you would like to learn more or take part in this important ministry, send an email through this link HERE. 

Click on the buttons below to learn more about what our task force is involved with:

Latest News and Events:

We've Changed Our Name!

To better reflect our work here in Hawaiʻi and in collaboration with the Racial Reconciliation Task Force and the Native Hawaiian Ministry Committee, we have changed our name to Kahuaola, which means the keepers or caretakers of life.  We have also collaborated with these two groups to share a common and overlapping statement of identity:
​As the bearers of ancestral knowledge, made in Godʻs image, we take hold of our responsibility for the reciprocal relationship with all Godʻs creation, in service of each and every place across Hawaiʻi where our feet are planted.

Huli ka lima i lalo - A Creation Care Revival 2025

     For 2025, Kahuaola in collaboration with the Ho'imi Pono and the Native Hawaiian Ministry Committee was awarded a Creation Care Grant from The Episcopal Church.  With this award and the support of the diocese, we are weaving mālama ʻāina through our shared work and the diocesan events for the year. It is a creation care revival—to continue and carry on this important call and responsibility in Hawaiʻi.  
     The name of the theme for this project is Huli, which means to turn, to change. It is also the part of kalo that is replanted. It symbolizes our important and sacred responsibility to care for the life of these islands.  
     So, for this year, we welcome all of us to turn our hands to the earth, as guardians of life: “Huli: ka lima I lalo.”
​

Huli: Summer Speaker Series

We welcomed Dr. Kamanamaikalani Beamer, Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton, and Robin Wall Kimmerer to our Summer Speaker Series.  Dr. Beamer's session was recorded and is available for viewing below.
SUMMER SPEAKER SERIES #1
​SATURDAY, MAY 24, 2025
“Waiwai: Water and the Future of Hawaiʻi” - Dr. Kamanamaikalani Beamer, a full professor at the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa with a dual appointment in the School of Hawaiian Knowledge and Richardson School of Law, led this timely session on our fragile water ecosystem in Hawai'i.  
SUMMER SPEAKER SERIES #2
 SATURDAY, JULY 26, 2025
Our Voyage to Europe: Wayfinding the Indigenous Jesus to the Theological Shores of Western Christianity with The Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton
 SUMMER SPEAKER SERIES #3
ATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 2025
"What Does the Earth Ask of Us?" - Robin Wall Kimmerer

New Creation Care Curriculum from TEC

The Episcopal Church has developed a nine week film-based adult formation curriculum. The program welcomes people at all levels of engagement with environmental ministry, and provides a small-group learning experience that can transform how we relate to the natural world around us.
TEC hopes that those engaging with the curriculum become:
  • Comfortable speaking about their faith, care of creation, and climate change
  • Personally transformed and invited into different levels of personal and collective engagement on creation care and eco-justice
  • Confident about where to find creation care resources and information
To review the curriculum visit "Love God, Love Godʻs World."

Carbon Reduction Assistance Grant

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​2025 Grants Available Carbon Reduction Assistance Grant (CRAG)
These funds from the Diocese are to support any congregational projects that help reduce your carbon footprint. 
See below for more information.

Action

2025 Grants Available Carbon Reduction Assistance Grant (CRAG)

The Diocese announces the Carbon Reduction Assistance Grant, funds to help with your Carbon Reduction projects. Projects that are likely to be supported: alternative energy source projects (solar, carbon offsets), energy audits, energy efficient appliances and light bulb retrofits, safe building tear down and removal. The Task Force would also entertain other ideas that would result in carbon reduction or energy efficiency.

Applications will be considered on a first come first serve basis.

The following is the structure and criteria for the program:

A. Congregation submits request of up to $800 to Kahuaola co-chair (see email addresses below) with the following information
    1. Budget for project
    2. Narrative about how project will reduce energy use/reduce carbon
    3. Timeline for project

B. Review by Kahuaola
    1. Congregation is in good standing with diocese and has a Green Team or has named an 
        Environmental Coordinator as contact person
    2. Proposal has clear funding request and demonstrates how the funds will be used to reduce carbon/energy 
        use
    3. Timeline is reasonable so that funds will be used in 2025 budget year.

All project proposals should be sent to Jenn Latham and Bree Lloyd: [email protected] and [email protected]. 

Agroforestry Grant For Farmers and Producers

The Hawaiʻu Ulu Cooperative is offering competitive grants for farmers and producers who want to integrate agroforestry into their operations. For more information about this Expanding Agroforestry Project, click here. 

​Carbon Offset Recommendations

Carbon Offset Programs often feature as an optional extra when purchasing airline tickets. But they are difficult to research and often contribute to the use of alternative fuel sources, many of which have problematic ecological impacts. So we recommend skipping your airline’s carbon offset program and supporting these organizations directly.

Hawaiʻi Land Trust (HILT)
Rating on Charity Navigator
Accredited with the Land Trust Alliance
Donate to HILT
Supporting the Hawai‘i Land Trust (HILT) helps protect Hawai‘i's precious ecosystems, cultural heritage, and agricultural lands, ensuring these vital resources thrive for future generations.

The Nature Conservancy
Rating on Charity Navigator
Rating on BBB Wise Giving Alliance
Conserve the Emerald Edge
The Nature Conservancy’s Emerald Edge conservation work prioritizes ecological preservation, Indigenous rights, and community-driven solutions.

Kiva.org
Rating on Charity Navigator
Listed on the Newsweek Excellence Index 2025
Eco-friendly Micro Loans
Kiva.org loans promote ecological benefits by funding sustainable agriculture, renewable energy projects, and environmentally conscious businesses, empowering communities to adopt eco-friendly practices while improving livelihoods.

Advocacy

Help keep fruits and vegetables affordable for Hawaiʻi families

Da Bux Program, which helps make Hawaiʻi-grown fruits and vegetables more affordable for SNAP and EBT cardholders, is expiring this year.  For information about how to advocate for its continued funding, follow this link to the Hawaiʻi Hunger Action Network. 

Check out the Hawai`i Episcopal Schools who are doing good sustainability work driven by students:

‘Iolani Community Engagement Project: Creation Care Infographics for Church Bulletins, Newsletters, Etc.
Sharing their gifts and learning with our Task Force, four 'Iolani students have created a set of 25 infographics on the theme of creation care.  These infographics can be used by any diocesan church or school that may want to publish in their weekly church bulletin or newsletter or, for example, to help educate around a Lenten environmental theme.  The infographics include individual action items and environmental facts and tips.  The team also created a website with information on meat consumption, solar power, and individual actions.  

Youth Citizens Climate Lobby Club at `Iolani
`Iolani students are leading the way in the democratic process, using their voices to express their concerns for the environment and lobbying their legislators for policies and laws that will help protect their island home.

Seabury Hall Students Take Action on Maui for Better Care for Creation
The Seabury Environmental Alliance is a student club that advocates for sustainable practices and organizes actions to bring love to our "other than human" neighbors.   Read this for an update of the great work of SEA together with the Seabury Community Service Leadership program! 

Education

Curriculum for small groups by TEC
The Episcopal Church has developed a nine week film-based adult formation curriculum. The program welcomes people at all levels of engagement with environmental ministry, and provides a small-group learning experience that can transform how we relate to the natural world around us.
TEC hopes that those engaging with the curriculum become:
  • Comfortable speaking about their faith, care of creation, and climate change
  • Personally transformed and invited into different levels of personal and collective engagement on creation care and eco-justice
  • Confident about where to find creation care resources and information
To review the curriculum visit "Love God, Love Godʻs World."
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The Episcopal Church Carbon Tracker
Are you interested in doing more to conserve energy and reduce your impact on Godʻs creation? TEC has created a wonderful tool that helps you understand how much carbon your household uses, and provides suggestions for reducing your CO2. The tracker also allows you to put yourself into a "group" - for instance, your congregation can become a group, your workplace can be a group, or our diocese could be a group. The tool encourages you to continue to take steps toward reducing your carbon output. Check it out: https://www.sustainislandhome.org/
Green Caucus
Do you get excited by The General Convention and all things governance? Do you care about green initiatives in the church? If so, consider joining TEC's Green Caucus. This group gathers monthly over Zoom to discuss how The Episcopal Church can move forward policies that will better love God's world. If you're interested, contact Emily Hopkins: [email protected] to receive more information.
Energy Efficiency for your Church
If you want to have an assessment done to help you save energy and reduce costs, contact Hawai`i Energy. This organization has a variety of programs to help households and organizations who are Hawaiian Electric customers on all the islands reduce their energy use. These are your dollars at work since Hawai`i Energy is funded by a fee you pay on your monthly electric bill. 
Hawai`i Interfaith Power and Light
This interfaith organization engages faith communities to raise awareness of global warming and create inspirational solutions.
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