The Lutheran Church of Honolulu stands on the corner of Punahou and Dominis, across the street from Punahou School in the Makiki neighborhood of Honolulu. It is a congregation that has been quietly reshaping the Lutheran presence in Hawai‘i since 1900, drawing on a heritage that goes back to German plantation families, drawing on a Beckerath organ imported from Hamburg in 1975, and drawing on a congregation-wide commitment to welcome every person who walks through the courtyard gates.
From German Plantation Founders to an Open-Table Congregation
The story of LCH begins with two German families who arrived in the Kingdom of Hawai‘i in the mid-1800s. Merchant Heinrich Hackfeld built the firm later known as American Factors (Amfac), and Paul Isenberg was a businessman and sugar plantation owner. In the late 1800s, Amfac brought about 1,500 contract workers and their families from Germany to work on its plantations, and the German-speaking community needed a church. On September 9, 1900, the Territorial Government approved the Charter of the Deutsch-Evangelisch-Lutherische Gemeinde zu Honolulu. The Hackfelds and the Isenbergs each donated $25,000 to build a church and import a pastor and pipe organ from Germany. The original building went up on Beretania Street, in what is now the Hawai‘i Capitol District.
When the United States entered World War I in April 1917, ties with the State Church of Germany lapsed. By 1919, Germans and German-Americans lost their positions at Amfac, and the firm’s assets were seized. The early years of easy plate offerings were over. The Rev. Dr. Arthur Hörmann, an American citizen educated in Germany, arrived in the summer of 1916 and guided the church through its transformation from a German-speaking, foreign-based congregation to an American one. He introduced English services gradually and encouraged the church to affiliate with the United Lutheran Church in America, which merged through several bodies to become the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). LCH joined the ELCA in 1991 as part of the Pacifica Synod.
In the late 1940s the territory acquired the church’s first home on Beretania Street, and in 1952 LCH bought its present site on Punahou Street. A new sanctuary and parish hall were dedicated on October 4, 1953. By 1970 the open architectural style no longer offered a quiet place for worship, so under the Rev. Dr. Donald K. Johnson, who became pastor in 1969, the church undertook a major renovation. Respected local architect Vladimir Ossipoff enclosed the worship space, moved the altar to the middle of the nave, and made the Eucharist central to the people. The new Nave was dedicated in 1975, and Ossipoff’s design created the gathering space now known as the Hörmann Courtyard.
A Reconciling in Christ Congregation Since 1993
LCH is a Reconciling in Christ (RIC) congregation, a designation it has held since 1993, when members voted 86 to 6 in favor of an Affirmation of Welcome that reads in part: "Because gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons and their families are often scorned by society and alienated from the Church, we wish to make known our caring and concern." The decision grew out of years of relationships, study, and a 1991 internship with an openly gay seminarian whose candidacy had been lost at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. LCH also led the Pacifica Synod to become a Reconciling in Christ Synod within the ELCA.
The Affirmation of Welcome extends to people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, who are welcomed as members, expected and encouraged to share in the sacramental and general life of the congregation. In their own words: "We acknowledge this reconciliation extends to people of all sexual orientations and gender identities." The Mary Magdalene Society, a social group of LGBTQI members and friends, gathers once a month in Isenberg Hall for a potluck and game night. The Reconciling in Christ program is sponsored by ReconcilingWorks (formerly Lutherans Concerned/North America) and identifies Lutheran ministries that have publicly affirmed full welcome.
The Nave and a Beckerath Organ from Hamburg
The Nave, accessed through the large double doors in the corner of the Hörmann Courtyard, is the heart of the congregation. Movable pews are arranged in two sections facing the altar area and two more sections opposite the organ wall. The altar sits in the center of the mauka (toward the mountains) wall, and the Beckerath organ commands the far wall. The renovation included a new tracker organ built by Rudolf von Beckerath of Hamburg, Germany, and it is the last organ personally voiced by Beckerath in the United States before his death.
The organ’s three manuals and pedal division are detailed on the church’s specification page, with stops ranging from Quintadena 16′ on the Hauptwerk to Zimbelstern, and a Swellwerk that includes Holzgedacht 8′ and a Terzian II. The mechanism uses mechanical key action with electric stop action. In January 2004 a solid-state circuitry system added 12 general pistons and 99 levels of electronic memory, allowing the organist 1,180 different combinations possible. Notable organists who have played the instrument include Marie-Claire Alain, Harald Vogel, McNeil Robinson, and David Dahl. The church also owns a 1998 Beckerath Continuo Organ (Opus 342), which has been used for performances of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and B-Minor Mass with the Honolulu Symphony, as well as a Cammack harpsichord built by the late Floyd Cammack from a Hubbard kit, and a 9-foot Steinway Model-D Concert Grand Piano on loan from Steinway since 2013.
Sunday Worship and the Liturgical Year
LCH gathers each Sunday for Choral Eucharist at 10:00 am in the Nave, a service that includes traditional hymns accompanied by organ, special music by the LCH Choir, holy communion, and a sermon. The service usually lasts about 75 minutes. Ushers hand out bulletins and liturgy booklets at the door, and the cranberry-colored Evangelical Lutheran Worship hymnal sits in the pews. The form of worship follows one of the liturgies in the hymnal or a separate liturgy booklet for the season, with hymns, lessons, prayers, and special music that change from week to week. There are no reserved seats, and visitors are welcome to follow along at their own pace.
The service is offered both in person and via livestream. The first half of the service centers on readings from the Bible and a sermon. About halfway through, the offering is received; cash and checks may be placed in the plate, and a QR code on the back of the white card in the pew allows electronic giving. The second half is devoted to holy communion. All are welcome to come forward, whether or not they are members of the church. Communion is offered in both kinds: bread (usually home-made, with gluten-free wafers available on request) and a small cup of either red wine or white grape juice. Visitors may stand or kneel at the rail.
Children are welcome in worship. The bulletin notes that the congregation knows God loves each person just as they are, so a little crying or laughter from the youngest members is part of the experience. On the third Sunday of each month, a Compline service (Prayer at the Close of Day) is offered at 7:00 pm, a meditative, candle-lit service of a cappella singing and chanting led by members of the LCH Men’s Schola. Musical selections include Gregorian chant, Taizé chant, and Renaissance polyphony. Compline is not sung during the summer.
A New Pastor for the Next Chapter
The congregation’s twelfth called pastor is the Rev. Amanda McGlynn, who was called by a unanimous vote and is scheduled to begin her work in early September. She preached and presided at her first LCH worship on Sunday, September 13, and her installation was scheduled for Friday evening, November 13, with ELCA Pacifica Synod Bishop David Nagler presiding.
Pastor Amanda was born and raised on O‘ahu, a Kalani High School graduate with family on O‘ahu, Maui, and the Big Island. She grew up as an active member of Calvary by the Sea Lutheran Church and felt called to pastoral ministry at age 14. She double-majored in theology and Christian leadership and in global studies at California Lutheran University, with a minor in music and worship, sang in all three university choirs, played in the wind ensemble, and studied abroad at Oxford University. In summers she worked at three Lutheran Bible camps in Wisconsin and Texas. She and her husband, Pastor Cole McGlynn, both attended Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota; he is also a Lutheran pastor and an IMA reserve chaplain in the Air Force. Their son Rowan was born in 2023, and their daughter Nora arrived in October 2025. The family includes two rescue dogs, an Australian Shepherd named Banjo and a Great Pyrenees mix named Cricket.
Pastor Amanda arrives at LCH from King of Kings Lutheran Church in Oceanside, California, where she served for five years. The late Pastor Jeff Lilley, who led LCH from 2007 until his sudden death on October 13, 2024, was one of her confirmation teachers. Pr. Margrethe Kleiber, ordained from LCH and pastor during Lilley’s sabbatical, agreed to serve as bridge pastor until Pr. Lesley Radius joined LCH as interim pastor on March 1, 2025, leading the congregation through the period of discernment that ended with the call of Pastor Amanda.
The Beckerath Organ Renovations and the Choir Loft
Dr. Barry Wenger joined the staff as Director of Music and Liturgy and Organist in November 2022, building on a long career that includes doctoral study at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music, where he studied organ with Dr. John Obetz, who had studied with Vernon DeTar at Union Seminary in New York and with Marie-Claire Alain in Paris. Barry previously served First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest, Illinois, and has toured with his Lakeminster Ringers bell choir to the Netherlands to perform on historic Müller organs, including the 1739 instrument at St. Bavo in Haarlem.
He is currently overseeing the renovations of the Beckerath organ, part of a 125th anniversary mission fund project that began in 2024, and the construction of a new choir loft that provides a more stable platform and better sightlines for the singers. The Cantata Project, an LCH initiative designed to foster and perform new major works of sacred music, has commissioned new compositions including works performed at the annual Advent Procession. The 40th annual Advent Procession in 2014 premiered Zachary Wadsworth’s O Antiphons, and other Cantata Project commissions have included a 2013 St. John Passion sung on Good Friday.
Music Beyond the Walls: First Mondays and the Summer Jazz Journey
LCH’s music ministry reaches well beyond Sunday morning. The First Mondays Concert Series runs from September through May at 7:00 pm in the Nave, with pūpū and conversation in the courtyard beginning at 6:15 pm. The series is free, with a $20 suggested donation, and proceeds support a different O‘ahu nonprofit each month. Recent recipients have included the Hawai‘i Foodbank. The Summer Jazz Journey takes over in June, July, and August, continuing the free-will-donation concerts in the Nave. Past performances have featured violinist Duane Padilla with pianist Tommy James and bassist Dean Taba for "Journey through Jazz," and trumpeter DeShannon Higa with Quadpod and vocalist Rocky Brown.
Children, Teens, and the Sunday School
LCH’s Sunday School uses the Godly Play curriculum for children from kindergarten through 5th grade. Children gather each Sunday at 9:00 am in the Godly Play Room for a story, discussion, and creative response using techniques developed by an Episcopal minister and used around the world for thirty years. The room is arranged as a sacred space, with handmade objects of natural materials, copies of great works of art, and stories told with scripted storytelling. A young K through 12 program uses the Godly Play methodology for younger children and meets in the Rainbow Room for older children and teens.
Confirmation is offered for youth in 6th through 8th grade, covering the Bible, Lutheranism, and the Small Catechism (the Lord’s Prayer, Ten Commandments, and Apostles’ Creed), with introductions to other religions and Christian traditions. The rite of Confirmation, also called Affirmation of Baptism, generally happens in the fall of a student’s 9th grade year, ending in a personally written credo. Teens in junior high and high school also gather on Sunday mornings during the worship service in the Rainbow Room. The LCH youth group has participated in the Western States Youth Gathering at California Lutheran University, joining teens from ELCA congregations across the region.
Nursery care is provided during the 9:00 am Sunday School hour and from the beginning of the morning service until about noon. Child care takes place in the Nursery/Child Care area diagonally across the Hörmann Courtyard from the Nave, with a small classroom and a covered play lanai. The Kindergarten and Pre-K classroom off the courtyard hosts the youngest Sunday School class on Sunday mornings.
Adults at the Table: Bible Study, Forums, and Conversation
The Book of Faith Bible Study meets on Thursday mornings at 10:00 am, both in person and via Zoom. All are welcome to join the discussion of Biblical texts, current events, and historical foundations, currently working through the Book of Acts. The Adult Forum gathers on Sundays at 9:00 am in the Boardroom for a friendly, stimulating group discussion. Recent topics have included church-state relations with retired Navy admiral and chaplain Peter Muschinske, a comparison of Hinduism with Christianity led by Dr. Steve Miller, and a long-running Process Thought Forum that meets monthly on Saturday mornings to discuss articles from the Jesus, Jazz and Buddhism website on topics ranging from Whitehead and evolutionary theory to Five Foundations for a New Civilization.
Food for Thought is an occasional gathering for shared food and stimulating conversation, meeting at the home of David Hörmann and via Zoom. The Mary Magdalene Society, mentioned above, gathers monthly for a potluck supper and game night. The Writers’ Workshop meets once a month during the school year at 4:30 pm in the Boardroom or via Zoom, offering a supportive space for anyone who wants help putting their thoughts on paper. The Women’s Book Club meets on the third Monday of the month during the school year at the Murashige home and via Zoom, with a different member leading discussion each month.
Feeding the Neighborhood and Beyond
The Social Ministry Committee, a lay group that meets several times a year, coordinates LCH’s wide-reaching service work. For more than 25 years, LCH has shopped for, prepared, and served a special dinner on the third Friday of each month for more than 300 of Honolulu’s homeless through the Institute for Human Services (IHS). The cost is underwritten by the LCH budget and by a grant from the German Benevolent Society of Hawaii. Shoppers, cooks, and servers are needed each month. Additionally, two teams of volunteers prepare and deliver 375 sandwich lunch sacks each month to IHS.
One Pot, One Hope brings LCH together with other Hukilau ELCA congregations on O‘ahu to feed 100 to 125 people in Wai‘anae on the last Saturday of each month. Volunteers leave LCH at 9:15 am and return around 1:00 pm, preparing lunches that include chili and rice, fresh fruit, granola bars, water, and recently peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Members can support the project by bringing donations of Costco gallon-sized cans of chili, fresh fruit, granola bars, bottled water, peanut butter, jelly, recycled grocery bags, and large cardboard boxes, or checks payable to "One Pot, One Hope."
Operation Backpack is a joint venture of O‘ahu Lutherans and Episcopalians that collects toiletries, health aids, non-perishable foods, and other items for distribution to the elderly and homeless. The Angel Network food pantry at Calvary by the Sea Lutheran Church in ‘Aina Haina receives LCH members’ nonperishable food donations on the first Sunday of each month. LCH also partners with Hawai‘i Meals on Wheels, an organization founded in 1979 by LCH members and other concerned Honolulu residents that delivers hot meals to the homebound. Chaplain Steve Jensen, a former LCH interim pastor, coordinates the Hawai‘i Wounded Warriors Program, assisting Marines who have been injured in combat or are seriously ill.
The Social Ministry Committee also keeps the wider world in view. LCH supports ELCA World Hunger and Disaster Relief, Bread for the World (an interfaith organization that lobbies Congress on fair food policies), Jubilee USA (working to reduce foreign debt of the world’s poorest nations), Heifer International (through the annual children’s benefit concert, which has floated five ARKS at $5,000 each), and Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem, a ministry of the Lutheran World Federation offering advanced medical care for Palestinian civilians.
Social Justice, Mutual Care, and the Silver Tsunami
Values In Action (VIA) is LCH’s social justice ministry, meeting weekly on Mondays at 5:20 pm in the Boardroom and via Zoom. VIA has organized two town halls with representatives and political candidates, led voter registration efforts at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, and organized two postcard-writing campaigns encouraging voters across the country to participate in local primaries and midterm elections. The Silver Tsunami Committee has launched a survey to identify the needs of the congregation’s kūpuna (elders), with preliminary results showing interest in topics ranging from aging in place to maintaining balance and remaining involved in the life of the congregation as members grow older.
Daily Prayer Resources Online
For those who want to pray daily, LCH hosts one of the most unusual offerings on its website: a complete Daily Prayer site built by webmaster Bill Potter using the calendar and lectionary found in Evangelical Lutheran Worship and the texts of The Book of Common Prayer, 1979, of The Episcopal Church. Each day’s services of Morning Prayer, Noon Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline are available with the appropriate psalms and lessons, so a visitor can follow the ancient pattern of fixed-hour prayer with readings organized in relationship to the three-year Sunday lectionary. A shorter option called Lutheran Devotions is also available, based on advice Martin Luther gave a friend who asked for directions for daily prayer. The site allows visitors to set their time zone and customize the experience with their own thanksgivings and intercessions.
The Campus, the Courtyard, and the Parking
LCH’s campus is anchored by the Hörmann Courtyard, named in honor of the Rev. Dr. Arthur Hörmann, pastor from 1917 to 1946, his wife Maria, and the entire Hörmann family. The courtyard is full of activity prior to Sunday morning worship: the Aloha Team greets visitors with handmade ribbon or yarn lei, others talk informally, and preparations are made for the social hour following worship. The Hörmann Courtyard is named in honor of the Rev. Dr. Arthur Hörmann, pastor of LCH from 1917 to 1946, his wife Maria, and the entire Hörmann family.
The Isenberg Hall is located along the ocean side of the courtyard and is named in honor of Paul Isenberg, who along with Johann Hackfeld gave the money for the founding of LCH in 1900. Regular entrance doors are on both sides, and large sliding doors in the middle can be opened when Isenberg is used along with the courtyard for large social events. The hall hosts Sunday School, the Mary Magdalene Society potlucks, benefit concerts, Game Day on the first Wednesday of each month at 1:00 pm, and a wide variety of other meetings. The Boardroom, accessible from the courtyard and from the Nave, hosts the Adult Forum, Church Council meetings, and a range of weekday gatherings. The Boardroom also features pictures from the beginning of the congregation in 1900 to the present.
Parking is limited in the small lot behind the church at the corner of Dominis and Poki; that lot has two designated handicapped parking places and is primarily for newcomers and those who have difficulty walking. If that lot is full, visitors are asked to turn mauka (toward the mountains) on Poki Street and use the larger Poki Street Parking Lot, located just beyond the apartment building on the corner. The back parking lot was renovated in December 2011 with sustainable landscaping using native and canoe plants. Three entrances serve the campus: the Punahou Street entrance, the parking lot entrance from the back lot, and the Dominis Street entrance from the Poki Street lot, the latter passing the church office and restrooms on the way to a ramp down into the courtyard.
Visiting LCH
Newcomers are warmly welcomed. The Aloha Team greets visitors with lei at the courtyard gates, and ushers hand out bulletins and help with seating. All public areas on the campus are wheelchair accessible, and gluten-free wafers and grape juice are available at holy communion. Children of all ages are welcome in worship. A public welcome is extended to the LGBTQ community, and a newcomer form is available on the website to help the office connect with first-time visitors.
The church office is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm and can be reached at 808-941-2566 or lch@LCHwelcome.org. Pastor Amanda can be reached at pr.amanda@lCHwelcome.org. The LCH Facebook page hosts livestreams of the Sunday worship, and the LCH YouTube channel hosts recordings of music at the church, including performances on the Beckerath organ. A secure donation page is available online, with options for one-time gifts or recurring pledges to the General Fund, Music Fund, First Mondays "Music in Mission" donations, Concert Support, Capital Improvements, or God’s Work, Our Hands for the Fernhurst Project, which supports residents at the women’s transitional housing facility down the street from the church.
Bus routes 4, 5, and 18 stop near the church. From downtown or Ala Moana Center, Bus 4 or Bus 18 stops at the corner of Wilder and Punahou, a short walk from the campus. Bus 5 from Ala Moana Center stops on Punahou Street just after crossing Wilder, while Bus 5 from Manoa Valley stops at the edge of the church property on Punahou. Detailed driving directions from Waikiki, downtown Honolulu, windward or leeward O‘ahu, and East Honolulu are available on the website, along with maps showing the three campus entrances.
LCH is a member church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Pacifica Synod of the ELCA, working alongside other Lutheran organizations like Lutheran World Relief and Bread for the World to meet the needs of the poor in the United States and abroad. For 126 years the congregation has been guided by a conviction that the world is often an unloving place, and that Christ calls the church to reconciliation and wholeness. Worship, music, education, and service all flow from that conviction, in the Nave and in the neighborhood, on Sunday morning and on the last Saturday of the month, in a building that has held this community since 1953 and on a website that offers daily prayer around the clock.