Who am I becoming?

Everyone has a story, and your story is personal, complex, and still unfolding. God knows it intimately, and through Jesus and the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit, we believe He meets people in all different stages of their lives and brings others alongside you, all the while letting you know that you belong.

You don’t have to have everything figured out to be a part of Formation Church. We see ourselves as fellow faith journeypeople—imperfect individuals learning, stumbling, growing, and walking in grace together. You don’t have to believe all the right things or have a polished faith story—like the first followers of Jesus, you’re invited to walk with Him and be seen, heard, and loved just as you are.

We call ourselves Formation because we intentionally focus on spiritual formation, which is the lifelong process of being shaped into the likeness of Christ for the sake of others.

We believe this journey can be described simply as:

• Being with Jesus
• Becoming like Jesus
• Doing what Jesus did
• For the sake of others

Being spiritually formed isn’t about engaging religious performance. Conversely, spiritual formation is about becoming the kind of people whose inner lives are slowly transformed so that love, goodness, and integrity naturally flow into our work, homes, relationships, communities, and everyday life.

While gathering on Sundays for services is important, Formation Church is not an event you attend, but is actually a way of life. We encourage one another to be the Church every day, wherever life takes us. Our hope is for people to learn to live as apprentices of Jesus, being formed by His teachings, His way of life, and His love for the world. We teach and practice the way of Jesus together, knowing we are unfinished people on a shared journey of grace.

Their wisdom helps us articulate what followers of Jesus have practiced for centuries: Faith is not just something we believe but is something that forms us.

Our Story

Formation Church began in 2004 as Kakaʻako Christian Fellowship, planted from Moanalua Gardens Missionary Church. The vision reaches back even further to Rev. Takie Okumura, who founded Kakaʻako Mission to serve the neighborhood generations earlier.

From the start, our calling has been to invest in the next generation and live out faith in everyday life. Rather than becoming a large church, we follow a simple pattern: when our Sunday gathering approaches 150–200 people, we begin praying about planting another church.

Over the years this has led to churches in Salt+Light in Waikīkī, supporting Streams of Life in Mānoa, and a new Chinese church in Honolulu, missions in Makapala (Hawaiʻi), Mentasta (Alaska), Ishinomaki (Japan), Chiang Rai (Thailand), and Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi (Vietnam), and local partnerships serving our city through the Pili Pono Project, McKinley High School, Hawaii Pacific University athletics, Next Step Shelter, cancer support events, and free Christmas trolley rides for the community.

Formation is more than a product or end goal; it is an individualized process, a shared journey you are a part of, an act of becoming, done together in community.