Aloha HPBC Ohana.

I want to report to you on significant actions of your HPBC Executive Board this past quarter and concluding at our meeting Friday, August 18, 2023:

First, I am glad to be reporting to you as simply your president. I do not think I have ever been so happy to lose a job 🙂

Our search committee worked hard through a robust process to come to the unanimous decision to recommend Craig Webb as our next executive director-treasurer. The full Executive board also unanimously approved him at our meeting on Friday. It has given me great joy to see many of you agreeing with our decision through your comments online.

Here are other significant actions of the board and its sub-committees:
• The communications committee has done great work in response to the report from the sexual abuse task force, and as an example to the rest of our churches has written in new guidelines requiring all HPBC employees to not only have a background check done, but also sexual abuse awareness training.

• The HPBC Programs Committee approved 10 different recipients for our theological initiative scholarships, and additional work to clarify the process for awarding initiative scholarships

• The HPBC Operations Committee has set some new policies for churches using HPBC properties and facility use agreement forms to give them. They also brought discussion to the board about some new plans regarding Puu Kahea (which we will bring to the annual meeting for a vote if they pan out).

• The HBPC Administrative Committee (the officers, chairs, and vice-chairs of the other committees) approved new job descriptions for some of our HPBC Staff:
 – Monica Kang is now the HPBC director of finance.
 – Corey Perkins (who recently became the pastor of Mt. Kaala) is now the Puu Kahea Caretaker.
 – Brian Smart (who has been residing in Tennessee) is now doing contract work with us as the HPBC partnership development coordinator.

Finally, your executive board passed a budget with significant cuts to get us closer to a balanced budget.

I look forward, as your president, to seeing many of you at our annual meeting this year on November 2nd and 3rd at the Japanese Cultural Center, where we will celebrate several things that fit with our theme “Something New.”

John Endriss (HPBC president)