More About The Rev. Dr. Jonipher Kwong

Although Rev. Dr. Jonipher Kwong was born in the Philippines, his immediate family moved to the mainland in 1987 seeking greater opportunities and freedom. Jonipher’s first love was film and he received a BA from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1997. Later in life, he felt drawn to ministry and received a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from Claremont School of Theology. During this period, his theology began to evolve away from the evangelical Christian religion of his youth. Consider the fact that his ordination in July 2004 was in a Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) housed at the Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church where Jonipher later became a member. The ordination ceremony included recognition by both the MCC and UU ministers. In December 2010, he officially received plural standing with the UUA. His UU experience consists of two part-time consulting ministerial positions with the Temecula Valley UU Community and Sepulveda UU Society (North Hills, CA) where he supervised a staff of four part-time employees.

His extensive experience with non-profits, financial management and fundraising, interfaith organization, media, strategic planning, and social activism and training in Hawaii and California supports the work that our church is already doing in the community. Some of our congregants already know and love Jonipher through work he has done with the Interfaith Alliance of Hawai'i and the Counseling & Spiritual Care Center of Hawai'i. During the time he lived in Honolulu, he became very good friends with The Rev. Kekapa Lee from the First Chinese Church of Christ in Honolulu (UCC) who later hanai-ed him, a great honor for someone not born and raised in Hawai'i.

In his Ministerial Record, Jonipher used these words to describe his Ministry: I define my call to ministry as that intersection where the world’s greatest need meets my heart’s greatest passion or desire. When there is hunger and injustice, hatred and intolerance, who will work to sow seeds of compassion, understanding and love? My calling is to serve the world and transform hearts and minds one person at a time. Also check out his website at www.jonipher.comand Jonipher’s YouTube pieces.