INTRODUCING OUR NOMINEE FOR SENIOR PASTOR

September 24, 2025

Dear Church ‘Ohana,

Over the past seven months, your Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC) screened over 40 candidates who applied to serve as our next Senior Pastor.  This screening process entailed the review of at least two sermons from each candidate, a comprehensive analysis of each résumé and statement of faith, and convening at least one and up to two interviews for those who were favorably screened.  Among the five finalists, we spent in excess of four hours interacting with each finalist on Zoom.  After much discernment, we now present our nominee to serve as Senior Pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu.

That nominee is Chris Pan!  

You might ask yourselves, “Why go through this laborious process when we could have selected Chris from the very start of our pastoral search?”  The fact is that, with great humility, Chris was one of the last applicants to submit an application.  The PNC received his submission on May 25, 2025, after we had already screened and interviewed the majority of applicants.  In his application, Chris stated that he would continue to serve and would provide “Pastor Next” his full support if he were not selected for that role. 

In hindsight, having Chris enter the equation later in the selection process proved advantageous to help us avoid any hidden bias on our part.  It allowed us to conduct a thorough and comprehensive search that spanned every time zone in the U.S., plus Canada and the United Kingdom.  This nomination will enable First Prez to sustain the momentum generated by our Elders and Transitional Pastor Timmy Fearer in fulfilling our mission statement, values, and vision mountains into the future.

Introducing Chris and Alia Pan

Chris grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, where he attended Chinese-language services at Calvary Baptist Church from childhood through his college years at Yale University.  He was baptized in the 9th grade and has been a growing follower of Jesus Christ ever since.

 Chris graduated cum laude from Yale University in 1998 with a B.A. in Philosophy.  He graduated with departmental honors and was selected as a student ambassador to Israel and Hong Kong.  As a student leader in campus Christian ministries, he served on missions trips in East Asia and in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco.

 He continued to build upon his foundation of faith and graduated cum laude in 2001 with an M.A. in Theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.  He was selected as a Presidential Scholar and a Ruud Scholar for academic excellence, and was the recipient for the Most Outstanding Thesis in Theology, titled: “Asian American Theology Between Gospel and Multiculturalism: A Theological Response to the Problem of Marginality.”

In 2005, Chris graduated with a J.D. from New York University School of Law.  During this time, he served as a legal intern with International Justice Mission in Mumbai, India, where he was accompanied by his wife, Alia.  He provided legal counsel for victims of child sex trafficking as well as case prosecution guidance to members of law enforcement. 

After graduating from New York University School of Law, Chris worked as a corporate attorney for a large international law firm in Silicon Valley, California.  He worked on a variety of multi-million and multi-billion-dollar corporate transactions.

From 2010 to 2014, he worked as an attorney with a respected law firm in Honolulu where he provided a broad range of legal advice on business formation, real estate transactions, and employment disputes.  It was during this time that Chris became a Covenant Partner and Elder at FPC Honolulu.  In 2014, he answered Pastor Dan Chun’s call to serve as our Executive Director at First Prez, walking away from his legal career, where he had been recognized as a Rising Star by the Hawaii State Bar Association.   Chris was commissioned as a lay pastor in 2015 and transitioned to Executive Pastor upon his ordination in 2024.

Chris also serves as the Chair of the Board for Ko‘olau Ballrooms and was integral in the formation of Hakuhia.  He is a member of the retirement plan oversight committee for our denomination and is an ordination mentor and a member of the Ministry Partnership Team for our presbytery.  Chris enjoys stand-up paddle boarding, hiking, and following the ups and downs of the New York Mets. 

Chris married the love of his life in 2002.  Alia is a Punahou graduate and completed a B.A. in English at Wellesley College.  She has a Ph.D. in British and American Literature and taught middle and high school English before serving in her current capacity as a teacher coach at Kamehameha Schools.  Alia is a Covenant Partner at First Prez.  On most mornings, you can find Alia surfing the breaks off Diamond Head. 

Chris and Alia have two children:  KG who is a freshman at Wesleyan University in Connecticut and Isaac who is a high school junior at Punahou.  They also are a long-time sponsor of a Compassion International child in Rwanda.