The Honpa Hongwanji Hilo Betsuin Buddhist Women’s Association Shinnen Enkai (New Year’s) luncheon and general membership meeting begins at 10 a.m. Feb. 11 at Sangha Hall.
The festive, enjoyable annual event highlights the welcoming of new members.
The theme is “Embrace Change: Harmony (Accept Differences).” The guest speaker will be the Rev. Yuika Hasebe, who served as an associate minister at Honpa Hongwanji Hilo Betsuin from November 2009 to February 2013, when she took a leave of absence to return to Japan to care for a family member.
Since Hasebe’s return to Hawaii, she has been assigned at Hawaii Betsuin on Oahu, where she originally came in 2007 as a Kaikyoshi minister.
Hasebe originally is from Toyama prefecture in Japan and graduated from Ryukoku University with a major in English literature.
The luncheon cost is $1 for BWA members, $10 for nonmembers. The event is chaired by Llillie Tsuchiya. Tickets are available at the Honpa Hongwanji office, 398 Kilauea Ave., until Sunday.
For more information, call the temple office at 961-6677.