On Sunday, Nov. 20, the more than 50-year-old First Unitarian Church of Honolulu on the Pali, is poised to induct Rev. Dr. Jonipher Kwong, the Honolulu church’s first openly gay minister, as well as its first Asian minister. We talked with Kwong about his new role and what it means not only for the Unitarian church, but the larger religious community and the public in general.
HONOLULU: Your first calling was the film industry; in 1997 you received a bachelor’s in film studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara. What made you shift your focus to ministry?
Kwong: I worked in the film industry for three years, but I became disenchanted and disillusioned. People wore their dysfunction as a badge of honor. So in 2001, I enrolled in an interfaith seminary—which included Mormons, pagans, Baptists, Hare Krishna and more—and saw the need for a safe place for people to be who they are.
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Complete article at Honolulu Magazine : http://bit.ly/tJqkqK
