Waiolaihuiia

WAIOLAIHUI'IA FORMATION PROGRAM

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 who are accepted into Waiolaihui'ia are required to attend 10 weekends per year, as well as complete Pastoral Care education, for a total of 3 1/2 years. Weekends begin on Friday afternoon and conclude on Sunday afternoon.

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Program Description
The program is structured to enable people with full-time jobs to participate in training one weekend a month for three years. The program uses the curriculum designed by The Iona Center at Seminary of the Southwest (Austin, TX). Instruction includes video lectures, reading assignments, on-site discussion and lectures by local instructors. The curriculum includes: Bible, Church History, Theology and Ethics, Anglican Studies, Homiletics, Liturgy and Music, Pastoral Ministry and Offices, Spiritual Practices, Theory and Practice of Ministry, Congregational Life and Leadership, and Multicultural Engagement.

In years one and two, exams are given each Saturday after the academic section. In year three, exams take the form of essays to be written after the weekend session. Typically these are due before the next weekend session.

The demands of the program are rigorous and while sessions are once a month, students should expect to fulfill reading assignments and essay assignments between meeting times. Student work is evaluated using measurements of "does not/meets/exceeds expectations." All exams and related evaluations are filed in the Bishop's office and are available to the Bishop, Commission of Ministry, and Standing Committee.

Contact:

The Rev. Haaheo Guanson

For questions about Waiolaihui'ia, please contact the Rev. Haaheo Guanson, Dean of Waiolaihui'ia.
For questions about the Commission on Ministry, please contact Carrie-Ann Kokubun, Chair.
For questions about the administrative side of discernment or the ordination process (templates, forms, checklists, etc), please contact Denise Esposito.

Pastoral Care Education
In 2018, the program added Pastoral Care education to the overall training. While this training is similar to traditional Clinical Pastoral Education, it allows more flexibility to accommodate the schedules of bi-vocational students. Students will have 100 contact hours at a local site and they will choose from a broad range of settings in which to practice pastoral care. Settings may be in a nursing home, hospice care, prison, retirement home, or other appropriate site. The instructor for weekly seminars is The Rev. Sarah Knowles Sweeney, Director of Pastoral Care education at The Seminary of the Southwest. Weekly sessions will be conducted via Zoom videoconferencing, allowing the Instructor to be virtually present. The instructor will be physically present for the first and last sessions of the course. The start date for the next course is TBD. Cost for this course: $1,000.00; scholarships are available.

Worship
Each weekend session includes common prayer: Morning Prayer, Noonday, Evening Prayer and Compline. Eucharist is celebrated on Sunday mornings. In their second and third years, students will preach during Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer, according to a rota, and will receive constructive feedback from their instructors and peers.

Note: Those nominated for ordination to the Priesthood may consider attending a residential seminary. Anyone considering, or nominated for ordination to the Priesthood, must consult with Bishop Robert Fitzpatrick before making a decision regarding formation training.

Applying & Logistics:

Applying to Waiolaihui'ia
In order to apply, individuals should have the following:

completed "Introduction to Formation" year (see below)
Bachelors degree (or the equivalent)
be a Nominee in the Diocese of Hawai'i
proficiency in English, writing and speaking, at college level

Acceptance into Waiolaihui'ia confirms the student's commitment to ongoing discernment as they continue to understand God's call. Ordination is not guaranteed upon acceptance to or completion of the program. Students should expect to graduate from the program with a stronger understanding of their unique ministry and the direction they will pursue in fulfillment of their call.

Cost is $2,000 per year to the students; the sponsoring congregation is expected to bear a portion of this cost.

The Application to Waiolaihui'ia can be found HERE.

Accommodations
Weekend sessions are held at St. Anthony's Retreat Center in Honolulu. Students from other islands will stay overnight at the retreat center on these weekends. O'ahu students may opt to stay overnight at the retreat house, space permitting.

Insight Space

“Insight Space” is a seven-session time with Bishop Bob and a priest, Katlin McCallister, 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). Those applying must have the endorsement of their local congregation’s clergy-in-charge or of the senior/bishop’s warden if there is currently no settled resident clergy-in-charge. Those looking to a possible path for ordination (see: Ordination Process) must be engaged with their local congregational Discernment Committee (but they do not need to have already received the approval/recommendation of the vestry/bishop’s committee and priest-in charge for nomination for ordination). “Insight Space” is required for anyone hoping to be admitted as a Postulant of this Diocese for ordination, and hoping to be admitted for formation leading to ordination through  Waiolaihuiʻia or to a residential seminary.

The group will meet by Zoom beginning in September 2021 and ending in March 2022.  The plan is to meet on the first Saturday of each month from 8:00 AM until 11:00 AM for seven months [September 4, October 2, November 6, December 4, January 8 (the first Saturday is New Year’s Day), February 5, March 5].

Each session will include a focused study of the Gospel of Matthew and a time for reflection on "The Way of Love" to aid discernment.

There is no cost for this except the purchase of the required books. The required books are: (1) A good study Bible: The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version 5th Edition or  The Common English Bible (CEB) Study Bible with Apocrypha; (2) The Book of Common Prayer, 1979; (3) Conversations with Scripture - The Gospel of Matthew (Anglican Association of Biblical Studies) by John Yieh (Morehouse Publishing, 2012); and seven “Little Books of Guidance” published by the Church Publish Company on “The Way of Love” (Turn, Learn, Pray, Worship, Bless, Go, and Rest).

To apply for “Insight Space” please contact Denise Esposito at desposito@episcopalhawaii.org for an application.

Alumni: Class of 2017

Our most recent graduates, Class of 2017, are: Ha'aheo Guanson, Mark Haworth, Fane Lino and Preston Lentz.

On June 11, 2018, three were ordained to the Transitional Diaconate by Bishop Robert Fitzpatrick, at The Cathedral of St. Andrew, Honolulu. They were joined by three others (Christopher Bridges, Jasmine Bostock, and Alison Donahue) that had obtained their MDiv at residential seminaries on the mainland.

All six have since been ordained into the Presbyterate and are serving in churches around the Diocese. To read about our six newest priests that appeared in an E-Chronicle article, click HERE.

Alumni: Inaugural Class of 2015

In October 2015, during the Opening Eucharist for the 47th Annual Meeting of Convention, the first four graduates of the Waiolaihui'ia program were ordained to the Transitional Diaconate in St. Alban's Chapel at 'Iolani School.

Our inaugural graduates are: Phyllis Mahi Beimes, Malcolm Keleawe Hee, Paul Nahoa Lucas, and John Hau'oli Tomoso. Of special note is that all four are of native Hawaiian ancestry, and Beimes is the first woman of Hawaiian ancestry to be ordained in The Episcopal Church.

After serving in churches around the Diocese for at least six months, all four were ordained into the Priesthood in 2016 and currently serve in churches around the Diocese.

(Photos by S. Nishioka from the 47th Annual Meeting of Convention)