HONOLULU (BP) – Craig Webb was installed as the new executive director/treasurer of the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention (HPBC) during its recent annual meeting.

“Something new” from Isaiah 43:9 was the theme for the HPBC’s annual celebration, which took place at the Japanese Cultural Center on Oahu.

“The 81st annual meeting of the HPBC Nov. 2-3 at the Japanese Cultural Center was marked by celebration, hope for the future and attention to the spiritual, emotional and physical well-being of pastors, their wives and church staff,” Webb told Baptist Press. “It was a reprieve from the devastation we’ve seen over the last six months.” 

He was referring to a super typhoon on Guam May 24, and 11 weeks later by three devastating wildfires on Maui.

More than 550 people participated in HPBC’s annual meeting, including 350 guests and 198 messengers from 45 of HPBC’s 131 churches on the six Hawaiian Islands plus Guam, Samoa, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines.

In addition to the 20-minute installation ceremony, worship, enthralling messages, panel discussions on NextGen, Women’s and Pastoral Wellness ministries intertwined with reports from state convention staff and SBC entity leaders, plus routine business: resolutions, budget and elections of officers.

The resolutions both expressed appreciation: for those completing their terms of service on HPBC’s Executive Board; and for SBC entity leaders who reported at the annual meeting either in person or on video.

A welcome change

For many, the installation ceremony and the entire annual meeting was a welcome change from the lingering effects of the trauma Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders have been going through since May. 

Catastrophic destruction in May and again in August brought Southern Baptists in the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention closer to each other and to the SBC, Webb said.

A super typhoon hit Guam with 80- to 120-mph winds and unceasing drenching rain May 22-25. Eleven weeks later, on Aug. 8, three wildfires blanketed the treasured historic town of Lahaina and upcountry of Maui.

Providentially, two months before the typhoon ravaged Guam, HPBC Disaster Relief Directors John and Gay Williams led that island nation’s first-ever Disaster Relief training. 

John Williams was back in Guam two days after the typhoon, by hitching a ride with a FEMA flight. He helped organize the new DR team to distribute food provided by FEMA and the Red Cross and to set up refugee centers for those made homeless by the island-wide destruction.

As for the Maui wildfires, “even granite countertops were completely gone, and the metal the wheels of cars had melted,” Webb said.

“On Maui, and all the Hawaiian Islands, they [residents] were definitely traumatized,” Webb continued. “It’s a disaster you can’t even describe. It’s like nothing anyone ever experienced, the loss of life, generational homes and businesses destroyed and the town so beloved by locals and tourists just gone. It’s just hard to describe. 

“There was profound grief and a sense of desperation. People couldn’t get supplies, water, cell coverage. Churches on the other side of the island sent supplies – food and water – by plane, boat and truck even before relief workers could get there.”

Much of the continuing grief and trauma has to do with the search for long-term housing, the continuing use of cramped temporary situations without any of the things around that they’re used to, and an uncertain future, the executive director said.

“Because of the way the fire hit, every home and business that burned to the ground became a toxic site because of the presence of heavy metal, arsenic and asbestos, he continued.

In their report to annual meeting messengers, HPBC’s DR co-directors John and Gay Williams summarized the help Southern Baptists provided in the wake of dual devastations.

“Since early June, 4,372 hours have been worked by DR volunteers, helping set up emergency shelters, distributing water and emergency supplies, chain-sawing, and ministering to the spiritual and emotional needs of those impacted by Typhoon Mawar,” the Williams told messengers. As of Oct. 8, teams from nine states “brought help, hope and healing to the people of Guam by repairing and rebuilding homes.”

On Maui, the Williams continued, in two months DR teams from 13 states provided more than 11,000 worker hours, nearly 2,000 ministry contacts, by helping homeowners at several FEMA Disaster Service Centers, at the mayor’s request managing housing for off-island first responders, working directly with residents to find personal items, and providing spiritual and emotional care for returning residents.

“This work will continue for months,” the Williams stated in their written report. 

“Hawaii Pacific Baptists have been truly blessed by the outpouring of financial and hands-on support from our brothers and sisters from the continental U.S.,” Webb told Southern Baptists. “We are so grateful for your continuing assistance and thank God for your support.” 

Business and special guests

Expenses in 2024 are anticipated to be a maximum of $ 1,168,618, down from $1,434,380 last year. Cooperative Program giving from churches is anticipated to be $910,000, down 16 percent – $1.1 million – from last year. The $258,618 shortfall is to be covered by reserve funds, Webb said. Again this year, 20 percent – $164,000 – is to be forwarded for SBC global causes.

New officers: President Brian Frable, pastor of Kona Baptist Church in Kailua Kona, on Hawaii Island; First Vice-President Larry Hale, pastor of ʻEleʻele Baptist Church in ʻEleʻele, on the island of Kauai; Second Vice-President Naomi Ashman, a member of Olivet Baptist Church in Honolulu, on the island of Oahu; Recording Secretary Grace Poei, member of University Baptist Church in Honolulu.

John Endriss, HPBC outgoing president who also served for six months earlier this year as the state convention’s interim executive director, preached from Isaiah 43 on the regional convention’s theme: Something new.

SBC President Bart Barber brought greeting during the Friday evening session, and traveled to Maui Saturday and Sunday to view the devastation from Maui County’s three wildfires, encourage pastors and HPBC Disaster Relief leaders and volunteers and preach in Maui churches.

Mark Dance from GuideStone Financial Resources was guest speaker at the Wednesday evening Pastors and Wives appreciation dinner, participated in the Pastoral Wellness panel, viewed the Maui devastation and preached Sunday in Maui churches.

A meaningful celebration

The biggest celebratory point was Webb’s installation ceremony. 

A native Hawaiian pastor of an HPBC church perpetuating native Hawaiian culture and language made the installation a uniquely Hawaiian ceremony, Webb told Baptist Press.

Ikaika Higa, pastor of Hamama Community Church in Kaneohe, on the island of Oahu – one of three churches accepted for HPBC affiliation this year – and two young men from the church blew conch shells the evening of Nov. 2 in a traditional Hawaiian call to gather.

“A native Hawaiian woman from Hamama led our folks in a Christian hand-motion hula,” Webb said. “We all sang the Doxology in the Hawaiian language, and then Pastor Ikaika had everybody sing the Doxology in their own heart language: Hawaiian, Filipino, Korean, Japanese, Chuukese, Chinese, Samoan, English and probably more.” 

Webb’s voice broke. “That was very meaningful,” he added.

A lei ceremony followed, with people bringing to Webb and his wife Barbara leis made not only of orchid, crown flower and other tropical blooms, but also leis made of snacks, kukui nuts, ti leaf, maile and more. One of the leis reached to Webb’s knees.

Brian Frable, pastor at Kona Baptist Church on Hawaii Island who later in the annual meeting was elected president, “brought a charge to me personally and asked me to commit to the things [God] called me to do,” Webb said. “And I said yes.

“I was so humbled and honored,” Webb continued. “I publicly committed myself to love God, my family, the Word and the Church. With God’s help I hope to faithfully fulfill my call and commitment.”

The congregation gathered around Craig and Barbara Webb, and their youngest daughter, Gracie, who teaches fourth graders in Honolulu. Three pastors prayed as the congregation lifted their hands toward the family in prayerful agreement.

“It was very special,” Webb said. “They did it very well, way more than I expected. Barbara and I were overwhelmed with the expressions of love and support as I begin this new role. It really was very special.”

Webb, born on Oahu island, moved to Tennessee at 11. With degrees from Samford University and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Webb was called as pastor of Lahaina Baptist Church on Maui from 1994 to 2003. He earned a D.Min. degree in 2010 from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and most recently served as HPBC’s assistant executive director for the last six years. 

The next annual meeting of the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention is set for Nov. 7-8, 2024, at Hawaii Baptist Academy in Honolulu.