The Rev. Diana Akiyama has been appointed by Bishop Robert Fitzpatrick of the Episcopal Diocese of Hawai'i to be the new priest and Vicar at St. Augustine's beginning in July 1, 2015.

Diana Akiyama was born and raised in her father's hometown, Hood River, OR. Her parents were an inter-racial couple at a time when there was considerable hostility toward Japanese Americans and children from inter-racial marriages. Seeking a safe hometown for their young family, they chose to raise their four daughters in Hood River because it had a large close-knit Japanese-American community. There they could raise the girls in a community that would accept and support them.

She attended the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA, for her freshman year before transferring to the University of Oregon where she earned a bachelors of science degree. Diana worked for several years as a counselor in the drug/alcohol rehabilitation field before entering seminary. She attended The Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, CA, and earned an M.Div. After graduating and being ordained to the transitional Diaconate at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Hood River, OR, she was hired by the Dean of the Chapel at Stanford University. One year later, she was ordained to the priesthood and became the first Japanese-American woman priest in the Episcopal Church. She worked as Associate Dean and then Acting Dean of the Chapel at Stanford University. 

Diana met and married her husband, Michael Jackson, who was then the Associate Dean of Students. During her time at Stanford, she served on two national committees of the Episcopal Church USA: The committee on the status of women, and the committee on racism. She was the co-founder of The Sansei Legacy Project which focused on supporting sansei struggling with racial identity because of the emotional trauma experienced by their Nisei parents in relocation camps during WWII.

In 1995, her husband, Michael, was hired by the University of Southern California as the Vice President of Student Affairs. Diana took this opportunity to earn a Ph.D. in Religion and Social Ethics at USC. After receiving her Ph.D., she was hired at Occidental College as dean of religious and spiritual life; in that capacity she was the principal investigator of a five-year, 2 million dollar grant from the Lilly Endowment. The objective of the grant was to encourage undergraduate students to consider ordained ministry as a vocation. She was also an assistant professor in American Studies. After completing the grant, she left Occidental College and began a private practice in spiritual direction.

In 2013, Diana and Michael left USC and Los Angeles and settled into their home in Kohala Estates on Hawai'i Island. They had purchased their home seven years earlier with the hopes of eventually living here full-time. The Rev. Akiyama is serving as Vicar-in-Charge at St. Columba's Episcopal Church in Pa'auilo from January through June 2015. Prior to that, she served as supply priest at St. James' Episcopal Church and St. Augustine's Episcopal Church. She led the popular St. James' Lenten series this year.

Throughout her ministry she has focused on social equality and the role of spiritual formation in overcoming prejudice. She enjoys teaching and is currently an instructor of Theology at the Diocesan Theology School, Waiolaihui'ia, on O'ahu, where classes take place one weekend a month.

When asked why, after a long career in higher-education, she wanted to serve a congregation, Diana said, "I have learned a great deal from teaching and counseling college students and wouldn't change anything I've done. But I realized that I missed being able to preach and teach the Christian message of hope and transformation in a community that is alive with faith. I think the human story is about coming full circle-coming home. Not necessarily the actual home of our childhoods, but home where one's heart leaps with joy and sighs with peace. Someone once said, ʻHome is where the heart is,ʻ so the Big Island is home for me and returning to congregational life is home too."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

A celebration of Rev. Dianaʻs ministry at St. Columbaʻs will be taking place on Sunday, June 28, after the 9:30 AM service, with a potluck gathering to thank her and wish her well in her new ministry with St. Augustineʻs.  

____________________________________