Medical Disclaimer

Vital Kauaʻi Church is a private, unincorporated religious organization operating as a Private Membership Association under the protection of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. All ceremonies, practices, and sacramental work conducted within Vital Kauaʻi Church take place within an ecclesiastical context, among consenting adult members of a sincerely held religious community.

This page describes the nature of our sacramental work and the responsibility each member carries in relation to their own health and sovereign participation.

Nature of Our Work

Nothing offered by Vital Kauaʻi Church, on this website, in written materials, or in direct communication with our Stewards or practitioners, constitutes medical advice, psychiatric treatment, clinical diagnosis, or therapeutic intervention as defined by state or federal law. Vital Kauaʻi Church does not practice medicine. Our Stewards and practitioners offer ceremony, sacred presence, somatic guidance, and spiritual support within a religious context. They are not all licensed medical professionals, and they do not hold themselves out as such.

Sacramental Practice & Inherent Risk

Participation in sacred ceremony, sacramental practice, somatic inquiry, and psycho-spiritual processes involves inherent risks. As a member of Vital Kauaʻi Church, you acknowledge and accept that these risks may include:

• Physical discomfort, dizziness, nausea, or temporary fatigue
• Physiological distress, emotional activation, or psychological intensity
• Changes in perception, mood, or sense of identity
• Temporary disorientation or heightened vulnerability
• The surfacing of past experiences, memories, or unresolved material
• Cardiovascular or other physiological effects in connection with sacramental plant ceremonies
• In extremely rare circumstances, serious physiological risk, including death

Serious cardiac events are rare and are most associated with pre-existing heart conditions, certain medications—including opioids and drugs that affect heart rhythm—and inadequate preparation. Your medical consultation with our physician, your on-island EKG, and medical clearance exist to identify and reduce these risks before ceremony.

These risks vary significantly by individual and are influenced by personal health history, current medications, mental health status, and life circumstances. Full and truthful health disclosure to the Church is essential to your safety and is required of all members prior to ceremony.

Member Responsibility

Every member of Vital Kauaʻi Church enters sacramental work as a sovereign adult, fully responsible for their own health decisions and for the accuracy of the information they provide to the Church. This responsibility includes:

• Disclosing all relevant medical conditions, psychiatric history, and current medications truthfully and completely in your intake and health screening
• Consulting with a licensed healthcare provider before participation, particularly if you have a cardiovascular condition, liver condition, are taking prescribed medications, or have a history of psychosis or serious mental illness
• Following all preparation protocols provided by the Church, including dietary guidelines and any medication guidance, in advance of ceremony
• Communicating any changes in your health status to the Church care team promptly and before ceremony
• Continuing to work with your own medical and mental health providers as appropriate before, during, and after your participation

The Iboga Sacrament

The Iboga Journey at Vital Kauaʻi Church is a sacramental ceremony rooted in sincere religious practice. Iboga, the root bark of Tabernanthe iboga, is a sacred plant sacrament used within our church as an act of worship, in accordance with our Statement of Belief and under the protections afforded to religious organizations by the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Vital Kauaʻi Church holds the Iboga sacrament with the care it asks for. The sacrament has clear medical considerations around heart health, liver health, and interactions with certain medications, including SSRIs, MAOIs, opioids, stimulants, and QT-prolonging drugs. For this reason every member completes a medical consultation and health review with our lead physician, and an EKG on-island before their first ceremony. Our care team reviews every disclosure with attention, and may decline or postpone ceremony when that is what care looks like for a particular member.

Members are solely responsible for accurate disclosure of all health conditions and medications. The Church's preparation protocols, dietary guidelines, and medication guidance exist in service of member safety and must be followed completely.

Our Ecclesiastical Commitment to Safety

Vital Kauaʻi Church holds safety as a sacred value. Within our ecclesiastical framework we maintain thorough member intake and screening, require appropriate health clearance prior to sacramental ceremony, establish and follow emergency response protocols, and ensure that experienced Stewards and practitioners hold all ceremonial space with care and presence.

We are a private religious community, not a medical facility, retreat center, or clinical program. We are transparent about what we are and what we are not. We invite every member to enter sacramental work with full awareness, honest self-disclosure, clear consent, and the ongoing support of their own healthcare providers.

Questions

If you have questions about safety, health screening requirements, preparation protocols, or the sacramental nature of our work, please reach out before applying for membership.

Vital Kauaʻi Church
aloha@vitalkauai.com

Acknowledgment & Signature

By signing below, I confirm that I have read and understood this Medical Disclaimer in full. I acknowledge the sacramental nature of the work offered by Vital Kauaʻi Church, accept personal responsibility for my health disclosures and sovereign participation, and enter this community as a consenting adult member of my own free will.

~ and so it is ~