KAHULUI — After Lahaina United Methodist Church burned down in the Aug. 8 fire, Pastor John Crewe wanted “to be in the presence of people praying for Maui.”

So he joined at least 200 others on the lawn of the University of Hawai’i Maui College at noon on Friday as part of a statewide vigil observed from sun-up to sundown.

“I just wanted to be in the presence of people praying for Maui together and all the different traditions,” said Crewe, who was one of the Maui faith leaders who spoke onstage after Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners and kumu hula chanted.

“Just to feel the spirit that binds us together, take that and pass it along to my congregation.”

Although the physical church is gone, Crewe said members are safe. When they are allowed to return to their property, Crewe hopes to erect a tent to hold their services.

The day of remembrance — “Kipuni Aloha no Maui, Embrace Beloved Maui” — was centered on emotional and spiritual healing and cleansing for the great loss so many are suffering on Maui, organizers said. The Aug. 8 wildfires claimed at least 115 lives and decimated Lahiana town. Fires also burned around 20 homes in a separate Upcountry fire.

The vigil was rooted in Native Hawaiian practices and included leaders of diverse faiths, sectors and backgrounds. The day started with a sunrise ceremony, followed by the noon ceremony at the college and in Hana. A sunset ceremony was held in Kaanapali for Lahaina residents only, and was followed by a vigil until 8 p.m. Another sunset ceremony was held on Molokai. The ceremonies were livestreamed, and places of worship, hotels, businesses and other locations were encouraged to hold their own vigils.

The noon program was headed by Maui Kumu Hula Hokulani Holt-Padilla, a revered Hawaiian cultural elder. The program included multiple chants, including “E Ho Mai,” by the late Edith Kanaka’ole. It asks for knowledge to be bestowed upon the chanter, according to the Edith Kanaka’ole Foundation.

Spiritual leaders of all denominations were also invited to speak.

Pastor Laki Ka’ahumanu, pastor of Church on the Go, called for forgiveness.

“I know there is a lot of angry people, blaming people,” he told the crowd. “This is what the last monarch Queen Lili’uokalani said: ‘Forgive them, they know not what they do.'”

“We need to look to the one that knows everything, about what we have to do,” he said.

Ria Razzauti, of Soka Gakkai International Buddhist organization, said, “We extend our deepest condolences, for the lives that was lost and want to say also that for those that have passed, your death will not go in vain, we will never forget.”

“And I just pray that for the peace and love and the aloha and the harmony of the ‘aina and the world.”

She chanted “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo,” with the audience following. It is one of the basic Buddhist practices of Soka Gakkai members, according to the organization’s website.

Residents who experienced loss also showed up to heal and to honor those who passed away.

Elizabeth Pulido Arias said she and her partner Olger Ovando Cruz made it out of their home, which burned down in Lahaina.

“I feel I’m blessed, so super lucky,” Pulido Arias said, noting she still has her family.

Pulido Arias said she was also “still healing, still processing” what happened. She came to the noon ceremony with her mother, Enedina Pulido, whom she is staying with in Kihei. She added that being at the ceremony was part of “honor, respect and healing.”

Longtime Maui residents and well-known realtors Betty and Roy Sakamoto were also in attendance, both wearing red for Lahaina.

“I think it’s important to support Lahaina in every way we can,” Roy Sakamoto said as they waited for the ceremony to start.  

Roy Sakamoto is a 1960 graduate of Lahainaluna High School. His family had a home along Lahainaluna Road that was later sold, but it too was burned, the Sakamotos said.

The two live in Kapalua and have been trying to assist the community in every way they can, from trying to find housing for residents as well as making donations of clothes, even searching Costco and Target for men’s and women’s underwear that was so desperately needed.

But it doesn’t take away the heartbreak that they feel “every time we drive by,” Roy Sakamoto said of seeing the town.

“To talk about it makes me want to cry,” Betty Sakamoto said.

* Staff Writer Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.