Welcome Deacon Ron & Mrs. Betsy Jones
Deacon Ronald and Betsy Jones arrived in Hawaii in March 2024 and immediately joined the parish of Saint Theresa in Kekaha, Kauai.
Ron retired from the US Air Force in 1999 and he and Betsy, along with their four children, settled into the small community of North Pole near Saint Nicholas Catholic Church in the Diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska. Ron was ordained as a permanent Deacon on December 8, 2015, by then-Bishop of Fairbanks Chad Zielinski.
Ron retired again in 2022 after working 13 years as a civil servant and was able to devote more of his time to the needs of Saint Nicholas. Deacon Ron prepared many Catholics for the sacraments of baptism and marriage, taught RCIA classes, and trained sacristans, altar servers, lectors, and EMHC’s. For the last six months of their time in Alaska, Ron worked as the Outreach Minister at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Fairbanks. Ron and Betsy were also involved with the local Catholic Engaged Encounter team.
Betsy comes to Saint Theresa’s with a strong accounting background. She retired after working for 21 years at a public accounting firm in Fairbanks, and then earned her Master of Science in Church Management degree from Villanova while employed as the Finance Manager at Saint Nicholas.
Ron and Betsy have felt the Holy Spirit guiding them throughout their 42 years of marriage, especially during the recent prompting to move after spending 28 years in Alaska. The quick and confident decision was made last November to “sell everything and go to Kekaha.” They are very happy to be here and excited to immerse themselves into the community while learning what God’s plan is for them at Saint Theresa’s Parish.
Welcome Deacon Bambi & Mrs. Clarissa Emayo!
We welcome Deacon & Mrs. Bambi Emayo to St. Theresa Parish effective January 1, 2021.
Deacon Bambi was ordained on January 20, 2018 at Immaculate Conception Church, one of 10 in the 8th Diaconate Class.
Holy Cross had been their parish for nearly 30 years, and after his ordination, Deacon Bambi was assigned to Holy Cross Parish until his assignment here at St. Theresa Parish.
Deacon Bambi graduated from St. Theresa School in 1979 in a class of 29 students, growing up in Kekaha with a love for music and surfing!
He and Clarissa met at Waimea High School as freshman, and have been sweethearts ever since. They were married in 1983, and recently celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary.
As his lovely wife, Clarissa says, “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love!!” (St. Teresa of Calcutta)
We look forward to the many blessings they bring to our parish and welcome them to our parish ohana!
WELCOME, REVEREND FR. EDWIN DAMIEN CONSELVA, MS
New Pastor effective July 1, 2019
Ordained on Jan. 3, 2015 in his home parish church of St. Joseph, Waipahu on the 175th anniversary of the birth of St. Damien deVeuster.
Fr. Edwin is a former Polynesian dancer and flight attendant and was the first local man ordained for the Philippine province of the La Salette order. Fr. Edwin is a 1983 graduate of Waipahu High School.
Fr. Edwin (in an article from the Hawaii Catholic Herald – Jan. 2, 2015) told the Hawaii Catholic Herald by phone Dec. 17, 2014, that he was first attracted to the priesthood while in high school through the example of his pastor, Sacred Hearts Father Herman Gomes; but, he said, he let that thought slip “to the back of my mind” until many years later.
The desire came back in his late 30s, he said, when St. Joseph Parish was visited by the La Salette vocations director from the Philippines.
“I felt that God was calling me again,” Fr. Edwin said. “I needed to find out.”
He applied to the congregation in 2005 on his 40th birthday and was accepted. He was invited to visit the seminary in the Philippines for a week to get a feel for the religious life.
Fr. Edwin said that by the time the visit was through, he knew “this is where I wanted to be.”
He was 42 when he left for the seminary in the Philippines.
“It was a big decision. I had to leave my job, my family, my country,” he said. “The schooling was in English, so that was not so bad.”
And the food was “not a problem” for the Hawaii-raised Filipino.
Fr. Edwin is the son of the late Frank Conselva and Flavia Salvador. He is the seventh of eight children, five boys and three girls, all of whom live in Hawaii.
Prior to his airlines job, Fr. Edwin worked as a dancer with Paradise Cove Luau for 14 years, performing Hawaiian, Samoan and Tahitian dances. Before that he was the assistant manager at Arby’s in Pearl Ridge.
He was also a member of the hula halau Na Wai Eha O Puna, later called Ke Kai of Kahiki, for more than 20 years.
Asked by the Hawaii Catholic Herald in January 2015 what he would advise others considering a similar “late” path to the priesthood, Fr. Edwin said, “If you feel that God is calling you, it is never too late. Answer the call. You never know. Things do happen in God’s time.” (excerpts from HCH 1/2/15)
Priests’ Convocation – May 2019
Past (Fr. Arnel Soriano, MS), Present (Fr. Boyet) & Future (Fr. Edwin Conselva, MS)
Celebrating Priesthood Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018
Sunday, January 28, 2018 ~ Celebrating Fr. Boyet’s birthday (Jan. 27)
Chrism Mass 2017 at St. Raphael Church in Koloa with Bishop Larry Silva, Diocese of Honolulu
Fr. Emerson ‘Fr. Boyet’ Delos Reyes
St. Theresa Parish Administrator effective July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2019
(ordained on April 24, 1990)
Fr. Boyet was born in Davao City, Philippines and has served in Hawaii since September 2014.
Fr. Boyet’s past ministries include: Seminary professor; Chancellor, Diocese of Tagum; Seminary Rector and Dean of Academics, Queen of Apostles College Seminary in Tagum City; Superintendent of Catholic schools, Diocese of Tagum
Before transferring to Kauai, Fr. Boyet was the Associate pastor at St. Michael Parish, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Reflection: “I completed priestly training at Central Seminary of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila and earned philosophy and theology degrees at the Ecclesiastical Faculties of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. I also have a doctorate in education. Ordained a priest on April 24, 1990, I have served in the ministry of forming candidates to the priesthood in my home diocese in the Philippines. About 65 percent of the priests at present in our diocese were once my students in the seminary.”
St. Theresa's Religious Education
St. Theresa Parish on Kauai 