I like the way Hawaiians do church--in the open air. What could put your spirit more at peace than singing praises to the Lord as the breeze carries in the fresh scent of passing rain showers?
We have started our hunt for a church home in Hawaii, and our first trip to a church on the island was pretty typical of what we're used to, except for two things. The first is that the sanctuary was open; one side of it was basically a wall of shutters, and the other side had HUGE sliding doors the whole length of it. Both were open for the service, which I found to be quite pleasant.
The other difference was the blowing of the conch shell at the start of the service. Native Hawaiians blew the conch shell 4 times, facing the north, south, east, and west, to invite the spirits into their presence. It was pretty cool to experience that native tradition within a modern Christian setting.
Although I enjoyed the exposure to the native culture (most of the people there were natives, as well), we probably won't end up joining this particular church. There were very few younger families there, and the preacher didn't seem too excited about having children sit through the service. I like to have my child things participate in worship as long as they aren't causing a ruckus, so we shall continue our search.
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