Waiolaihuiia

WAIOLAIHUI'IA CENTER FOR MINISTRY (WCM)

We are currently updating our WCM page with big changes to the program. Please check back again soon!

In 2013, the Diocese of Hawai'i developed the formation program, Waiolaihui'ia ("gathering of the waters"), for canonically resident communicants who have been recommended for further discernment and formation toward ordination to Holy Orders. Students were required to attend 10 weekends per year, as well as complete Pastoral Care education, for a total of 3 1/2 years.

In 2023, the program expanded to include a lay formation program to license lay preachers, catechists, and worship leaders in our churches, and saw its first graduating class in August 2023. It is a 10-month program held online, so that all interested people from around the Diocese can participate.

BIG CHANGES IN 2024! WCM has revamped its program so that students on the ordination track can now choose from several different seminaries offering online courses to complete their 3-year academic requirements. WCM will integrate cultural formation classes into the courses.

Celebrating 10 years!

Waiolaihui'ia began in January of 2013, and 2023 marked its 10 year anniversary. The video above was created in celebration of this milestone and was shown during the Diocese's 55th Annual Meeting of Convention on October 21, 2023.

Contact:

The Rev. Andrew Arakawa

For questions about Waiolaihui'ia, please contact the Rev. Andrew Arakawa, Canon for Ministry Formation and the Dean of Waiolaihui'ia.
For questions about the Commission on Ministry, please contact the Very Rev. Heather Patton-Graham, Chair.
For questions about the administrative side of discernment or the ordination process (templates, forms, checklists, etc), please contact Nani Carroll.

Getting Started...

1. Discernment

What am I supposed to do with my life? How does God call me to serve? These and questions like them are matters for "discernment": figuring out how to distinguish God's call among all the hunches, inclinations, and pulls in a particular direction that one might experience. To learn how to get started in your discernment process and the role of your church's Discernment Committee, visit our Discernment for Ministry webpage HERE.

The purpose of the Discernment Committee is to truly discern how God is working in a person’s life and how God is calling that person to ministry and what form that ministry should take. If the recommendation is for lay ministries (commissioned by the local church, such as Altar Guild, Wardens, Vestry members, and Sunday School teachers) or licensed ministries (Eucharistic Minister, Eucharistic Visitor, Catechist, Preacher, Worship Leader, etc.), the priest in charge will work with the applicant to get them the needed training, information, and resources.

For those seeking the ordination path, discernment is an ongoing process and in its later stages, is usually done in conjunction with Insight Space (see #2). If the recommendation is for ordained ministry, the Vestry or Bishop's Committee then meets to discuss and decide whether to nominate the Applicant to the Bishop.

2. Insight Space

“Insight Space” is time with the Bishop and other priests, to explore the meaning of ministry (lay or ordained) for individuals in discernment. It is open to anyone in a local congregational discernment process that might lead to ordination (deacon or priest) or for those discerning a focused licensed lay ministry (Preacher, Pastoral Leader, Evangelist or Catechist). Insight Space is different for those on the ordination track and those pursuing licensed lay ministry.

3. Applying and Logistics

To learn more about the application process, the course, logistics, costs involved, etc., click on the buttons below to be taken to the program webpage you are interested in: