The Waikīkī Beach Chaplaincy (WBC) has benefited the local community since 1970, serving as a place for visitors to experience a Christian service on the beach, as well as for the residents of Waikīkī to have a place to gather. Founder Bob Turnbull felt led to bring his message of hope outside of the church walls and to the beach where the people were.
For more than 55 years, WBC has served the community through homeless outreach, providing provisions, blessings and prayers for community members at canoe races and other public events. WBC has also hosted wedding and funeral services, along with annual holiday services for Easter and Christmas.
But to do any of this, Turnbull sought out the proper permissions in the ‘70s from various entities including city and state government overseeing Duke Kahanamoku and Fort DeRussy beaches; Hawaiʻi police and fire departments; and neighboring hotels including the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waīkikī Beach Resort and Hale Koa Hotel. Former Gov. John Burns and former Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi granted permission for WBC to meet on public beaches and everyone else followed suit. About 400 people showed up its first day in operation.
Today, we have maintained relationships with Hale Koa and Hilton Hawaiian Village. For them, the benefit is providing a positive experience and amenities, like a church on the beach, for guests.
Since last month, we have continued to receive pushback from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, which aims to cancel this year’s Easter services, as well as hinder WBC’s weekly services on the beach. During the process of renewing our Right-of-Entry permit, as we’ve done for the past three years for this special event, we were told, “No, not possible and you can’t do anything else” because they “had never heard of the chaplaincy.”
On March 25, DLNR sent WBC a “Cease and Desist Order,” for concerns about “weekly Sunday services being held on state public beaches.” WBC’s Wiki permit application from March 13 to conduct Easter sunrise service on April 20 was also denied due to exceeding the maximum event size of 30 persons and the time limit of two hours per event.
After several attempts to contact DLNR, I reached out to Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi, who helped contact Gov. Josh Green, from which I got a text the next day, “All set for Easter, then they will permanently reboot your regular permits after the holidays.”
The “Cease and Desist Order” against WBC was rescinded a few days later, our ROE permit to use Duke Kahanamoku Beach from March 30 to April 27 was granted, and as of April 15, we’re working on finalizing paperwork for ROE permits for the rest of 2025.
Despite all the setback this year, we will be there Easter morning at Duke Kahanamoku Beach with services starting at 6:30 a.m. and 9 a.m., which will include live worship music, dance performances and a heartwarming message. We will provide chairs and there is plenty of room to bring your own. Hope to see you there!
Pastor David “Waxer” Tipton is the director and president of Waikīkī Beach Chaplaincy. He is also the founding pastor of One Love Ministries. Edited for style, length and clarity.
