Bishop Randolph Sykes: A Through Line of Blessings

Today we celebrate the life of Bishop Stephen Randolph Sykes.

His life and work stand on its own, a life of work and service that included breaking ranks from the religious tradition of his youth and doing remarkable things with remarkable compassion in his role as Bishop of Honolulu and all Hawaii for the Inclusive Orthodox Church.

His life and work are also important as part of a through line of men and women of faith, some with deep ties to Hawai’i, who each broke rank from their traditions to stand out and speak up on issues of social justice in America.

Bishop Sykes Through Line of faith leaders includes:

Martin Luther King Jr., who visited Hawai’i several times, including a year before his iconic Selma to Montgomery marches at the height of the Civil Rights Movement.

Rev. Abraham Akaka, who in 1965 met with King during his visits and became a friend, and who sent lei to King and his supporters during the third and final march on March 21, 1965, as an act of aloha, and as a symbolic show of support and solidarity.

Today, the Interfaith Alliance Hawai’i presents the family of Bishop Sykes with the same white double carnation lei that King wore on that day.

Reverend James Reeb, the young Unitarian minister who was beaten and killed by white segregationists while working with King in Alabama.

Archbishop Iakovos, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop for North and South America, who broke with his tradition and with precedent, to walk with King in Selma and to attend the funeral of Rev. Reeb with King, an act which famously made the cover of Life Magazine.

Next is Sister Joan Chatfield, a Maryknoll nun in Honolulu, with a long and ‘relentless’ history of bringing together people of all faiths and of advocating for those on the margins of society, even when that required sometimes breaking ranks with her beloved faith tradition. Sister Joan was a close friend of Bishop Sykes.

Sixth in this through line is Bishop Yoshiaki Fujitani, bishop of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii, who advocated for inclusivity and collaborated with a diverse group of religious leaders.

While serving in the U.S. Military Intelligence Service during World War II, his father was one of many Japanese Americans interned in New Mexico. Bishop Fujitani’s advocacy during his time as bishop notably included lifting up the LGBTQ community.

And seventh in this line is Randolph Sykes himself, who’s leadership and accomplishments we lovingly speak of today.

As we say in my Jewish tradition, may all these seven lives be for a blessing. And especially today, may Stephen Randolph Sykes’s life be for a blessing.

It is up to us, who bear his memory to keep his goodness alive. We do this by remembering him, we do this by speaking his name, we do this by carrying on his legacy.

Paul Gracie
President, The Interfaith Alliance Hawai’i
19 May 2022