KAPAIA — The Rev. William “Bill” Shannon says he enjoys being the resident pastor at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Kapaia because “the people are very gracious here.” Before coming to Immaculate Conception earlier this year, Shannon was a traveling
KAPAIA — The Rev. William “Bill” Shannon says he enjoys being the resident pastor at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Kapaia because “the people are very gracious here.” Before coming to Immaculate Conception earlier this year, Shannon was a traveling priest, most recently assigned to a parish in Kahului, Maui, where he served about 2,000 families.
The Immaculate Conception parish numbers nearly half that, with about 900 families, but more tourists coming to mass than on Maui.
He said a favorite thing about ministering to folks who make the trip to church each week is that children and families make gifts of lei for tourists. “It’s something the people are very touched by,” Shannon said recently.
His work reaches beyond the usual mass-goers. He tries to welcome back people who have shied away after “breaking” traditional Catholic rules.
“I’m finding there’s a lot of families broken, children being raised by grandparents, single parents. It’s a challenge in the sense of making them feel welcome here,” Shannon said.
“I treat people as people, so it’s not a challenge to relate to them,” he added.
He noted that more babies are being baptized, even those born to single and unwed mothers, which is traditionally considered taboo in the Catholic faith.
“We’re using that first contact to invite them to get involved (in the church),” Shannon said. “(I) just listen to the story and try to work it out.” Shannon worked in church administration for 15 years before becoming involved in direct parish work, which he has done for 16 years.
His specialty is teaching religious communication, also known as “preaching.” He is trained in teaching group dynamics, interpersonal communication and communication skills.
He’s also skilled in homiletics, or the practice of preaching.
Unlike priests who follow a specific religious order, Shannon is a diocesan priest, meaning that his orders come from the bishop, who is charged with overseeing priests in the diocese, or grouping of churches in an area.
Priests who serve in religious orders cover a certain region and live in a home somewhere in the community, while Shannon lives in the rectory at Immaculate Conception. Another difference is that the diocese can assign priests of any order to churches within the region he’s in charge of.
Shannon originally was in the Franciscan order, then transferred to the diocese; he likened this to a state trooper transferring to a local police precinct.
Other orders represented on Kaua‘i and in Hawai‘i are the Sacred Heart of Marist, the La Salette of Manila (Philippines) and Hawai‘i provinces; and Jesuit.
Each order represents different spirits, training and lifestyles, Shannon said.
In his younger years, Shannon was a scuba diver in the Caribbean, and was especially interested in underwater photography.
He became very interested in safety and education, and devoted much of his diving training time to learning safety in recreation.
At Immaculate Conception Church, weekday masses are at 7 a.m., and confessions are heard each Saturday from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The Saturday vigil mass is at 5 p.m., and Sunday masses are at 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. For more information, please call 245-2432 weekdays.
