Rev. Dr. Jonipher Kūpono Kwong (he/they) will become First Parish’s Interim Lead Minister in August 2025 and welcomes being called either “Jonipher” or “Rev. Jonipher.” Born and raised in the Philippines, of Chinese descent, most of Jonipher’s adult life was spent in California and Hawai’i. He has served as a minister at the First Unitarian Church of Honolulu, the Fourth Universalist Society of the City of New York (where he was the Interim Senior Minister), and UU congregations in Sepulveda, the Temecula Valley, and Toronto. He has also served Metropolitan Community Churches in Honolulu and Orange County, CA. He worked for the UUA as the Ministerial Credentialing Director and a member of the Congregational Life Staff for the Pacific Western Region. Raised with an ecumenical background, Jonipher values pluralistic religious experiences. Process theology speaks to him most deeply, but he was christened at a Gospel church, baptized as a Chinese Mennonite, and a member of the Honolulu Mindfulness Community, a sangha influenced by the Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hahn. Rev. Jonipher brings to First Parish a deep interest in congregational cultures, structures, and healing.