United Methodist Church votes to move Hawaiʻi closer to justice

by Rev. Amy Wake

In Hawaiian, the word PONO means justice, righteousness, the way things should be.  There is a right way to be in relationship: with one another and with the world.   

The people of Hawaiʻi have been waiting for justice for a long time....  

From the heartbreak of the first days of the overthrow, 

To the theft of land and language and the shaming of brown skin, 

To the betrayal of illegal annexation and the militarization of sacred land, 

To the overwhelming weight of poverty and homelessness on islands that are the playground of the wealthy, 

To the shipping of incarcerated Hawaiians to Arizona prisons, cut off from family and land and tradition,

To the natural aquafers poisoned by careless use of chemicals and hidden spills,

To Hawaiians in diaspora, priced out of paradise, because their homeland is no longer survivable for them.

Justice for Hawaiʻi is long overdue.

But PONO has always been there.  There has always been a people who knew their true worth, people who taught the traditions of the land, people who fought for righteousness... from the mountains of Mauna Kea to the waterways of Red Hill.  There has always been a warmth and welcoming spirit... not the aloha that sells vacations, but the heart of a nation that knows what it means to love.  There has always been hope in the promise of justice, no matter how far off it seemed.

The United Methodist General Conference, meeting in Charlotte, N.C., has approved a formal apology for the denomination’s complicity in the 1893 overthrow of Queen Liliʻuokalani’s monarchy in the Hawaiian Islands. Photo courtesy of the Hawaii District Acts of Repentance Task Force.

At General Conference, The United Methodist Church voted to move Hawaiʻi closer to justice.  You are standing for truth in the face of false history.  You are drawing nearer to the church God intended.... the beloved community that seeks PONO for all.  Thank you.  Mahalo.  Aloha.

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Background, by Rev Allison Mark:

The California-Pacific Conference, which includes the Hawaiian Islands, submitted legislation asking the church to address another past injustice. This Act of Repentance asks for a formal apology to native Hawaiians for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893.

Other denominations and the U.S. government already have issued such apologies. Modeling AOR has an impact on United Methodists around the world.

One of the supporters of the kingdom’s overthrow by U.S. naval and marine forces was the Rev. Harcourt Peck, a sharpshooter who later became pastor of First Methodist Episcopal Church in Hawaii.

On the morning of April 29, 2024, the petition was passed through the Consent Calendar. The passing of this historic petition acknowledges the sin of racism and colonial realities that occurred in the overthrow and it invites the church to issue a formal apology that will be accomplished through a An Acts of Repentance Task Force that invites people from the native Hawaiian community to share their perspectives.

Here is a video created by the AOR Task Force on the topic.