Daniel Leatherman – (Hawaii) - The Vaughan Park Scholar in Residence
I was born and raised in the Hawaiian Islands and remained active in the Episcopal Church throughout primary and secondary school all the way through university where in my 3rd year of university that I began a discernment to ordained ministry. Ordained an Episcopal priest, I have served in parishes and schools in Oklahoma, California, and Hawaii. Currently, I am the Upper School Chaplain serving Intermediate and Secondary grades at ‘Iolani School in Honolulu, HawaiÊ»i. Ê»Iolani, Hawaiian for "heavenly hawk" refers to King Kamehameha IV who brought Anglicanism to Hawaii and helped to found the school I also serve as a chaplain in the reserves of the United States military. My wife Charmaine is also an educator in the Hawaii Public Schools and we have one daughter, age 11.
Although I am not native Hawaiian by blood, the Hawaiian spirit speaks deeply to my soul and I have come to know and understand that as a child of Hawaii, I am connected to the land, the sky, and the sea all the same. It has been a dream to travel to Aotearoa/New Zealand and I am grateful to the Board for this opportunity. While at Vaughan Park, I am taking advantage of a much-needed sabbatical leave from my school and look forward to rest, renewal, blogging, and time to write my thesis as I pursue a Doctor of Ministry in Educational Leadership from the Virginia Theological Seminary, Alexandria, VA. Exploring the intersection of faith, history, and indigenous culture is of great interest to me and I hope to discover the ways that Anglican schools in Aotearoa/New Zealand have wrestled with these same issues in their own worship life and spiritual formation process.
Though I take great delight in being a “ballet dad” and the taxi driver to gymnastics for my daughter, I also look forward to reconnecting with God through my other loves that include amateur astronomy, photography, hiking and the ocean.
ʻIolani School: http://www.iolani.org
My personal blog, “Versicle” can be found http://www.techpadre.com/blog
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