When Jasmine “Jaz” Schaeffer first came to Kaua‘i several years ago and attended a service for the Unity of Kauai, services were held at the Caffe Coco in Wailua. Now she has returned to live here on Kaua‘i, and not
When Jasmine “Jaz” Schaeffer first came to Kaua‘i several years ago and attended a service for the Unity of Kauai, services were held at the Caffe Coco in Wailua.
Now she has returned to live here on Kaua‘i, and not only have the services moved back to the Caffe Coco after a short stint at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Kapa‘a, she is now the new minister for the congregation.
“It’s kind of like a coming home for me, because the first service I attended was at the Caffe Coco, and I come back and I’m leading the church,” she said.
Schaeffer was hired to take over as the minister for Unity of Kauai back in November, but just recently moved here from Alameda, Calif., where she was a minister for the New Thought Church.
Her first sermon with Unity of Kauai was Sunday.
“I knew I wanted to be here, I just wasn’t ready to leave what I was doing. So when (the previous minister) left, I applied, and I got hired,” she said.
She replaces Cindy and Jerry Sickler, who had been serving the Unity of Kaua‘i congregation as interim ministers.
Schaeffer said she felt good about her first sermon.
“It was a very moving experience for me, absolutely wonderful,” she said. “I am adjusted, and I love it here very much.”
Schaeffer grew up a follower of the Episcopalian faith, but converted to the New Thought Church while in her 20s.
“I studied different spiritualities, and I began to search for a match for myself,” she said. “I wanted a positive image of God that allowed for our ability to love and heal and pursue different spiritualities and to integrate them.”
She found that in the New Thought Church. Unity of Kauai and Home of Truth Church are churches that are a part of New Thought.
Schaeffer was ordained in 2002.
“It was sort of an accident,” she said. “My degree is in anthropology, and I studied biblical archaeology, and began to take to that. I began to study metaphysics, and continued on with the ministry program.”
That served as her proper calling in life, she said.
“It was a very wonderful feeling to be connected with people and developing a sense of spirituality,” she said.
Schaeffer and her family live in Princeville.
The Unity of Kauai congregation meets every Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Caffe Coco.
For more information, visit www.unityofkauai.org.
Lanaly Cabalo, lifestyle writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or lcabalo@kauaipubco.com.
