Last Sunday, I spent the morning at Nuuanu Congregational Church where they honored organist Jieun Kim Newland for her several years of service. It was one of the first services in which the church has resumed in-person services.

Everyone had their temperature taken before entering the church and every other pew was blocked off. There was only one hymn—but no one sang. We just listened to Jieun play it on the organ while the verses were projected on the wall. Same for the Doxology—Jieun played it but no one sang.

At the passing of the Peace, we were asked to stay in place and wave or gesture to the people near us, without touching each other. Of course it is hard to see people smile when everyone is wearing masks!

In the afternoon, I played for one of the most unusual graduation services I’ve ever played. Due to St. Andrew’s Priory’s desire to keep everyone safe, the students only entered one at a time to receive their diplomas, then immediately exited. So after I played the processional, it was only me with the Bishop and a couple of school administrators in the chancel, plus only pictures of the graduates in the choir stalls.

I was all set to start the new church job this week, and even spent a day practicing and setting up my pistons. But then I got this message last night from the church administrator on behalf of the diaconate chair:

Hurricane Douglas – Cancellation of Sunday’s In Person Worship Service. Hurricane Douglas has been upgraded to a category 4 hurricane. While forecasters are saying it should be downgraded by the time it reaches Hawaii, it will still be a strong tropical storm that may directly hit Maui and Oahu, depending on which model you look at.

In an abundance of caution, Pastor Jeannie and I agreed to cancel this Sunday’s in-person worship. This gives folks more time to prepare for the storm/hurricane and get to a safe place should the situation take a turn for the worse.

As if dealing with coronavirus weren’t bad enough, now we have a hurricane headed for Hawai’i!