Christian missionaries from New England first arrived on the Big Island shortly following the death of King Kamehameha I. Upon ascending the throne, his son King Kamehameha II (formerly Prince Liholiho) abolished the ancient kapu system, which governed lifestyle, gender roles, politics, and religion, leaving the Kingdom of Hawaii without an official belief system. The new king granted the missionaries permission to practice Christianity and donated his home as the first church building. Under the direction of Gov. Kuakini in 1836, Mokuaikaua constructed a new church, which merged the technical expertise of Native Hawaiians with “Western” architecture that was introduced to Hawaii in the early 19th century. The church was constructed in the form of a New England meeting house using locally sourced, traditional Hawaiian building materials, including lava rock, mortared coral, and ocean-cured ohia wood. According to the congregation, the church’s history and architecture have served as a “symbol of lasting aloha” through joining diverse beliefs and traditions.

Today, Mokuaikaua Church remains a multicultural and multigenerational community dedicated to providing support to people in need. The congregation shares its property with a Kamehameha Schools Preschool program and the University of the Nations. Mokuaikaua runs a food pantry for around 170 clients, pancake breakfasts, a weekly service and residential fellowship at the Life Care Center, a yearly program offering Christmas boxes to children, an on-site youth ministry for teens, and free history tours for guests from around the world.

A National Fund grant of $250,000 with $850,000 in matching funds raised by the congregation allowed Mokuaikaua to structurally stabilize the church and repair lasting damage from a magnitude 6.7 earthquake in 2006. The completed work, which included adding structural tie-beams to the interior of stone masonry walls, attaching retrofitted steel hold-down attachment hardware to rafters and beams, and installing roof plane sheathing reinforcement, intends to protect the church from accruing major damage from future earthquakes. This work has “empowered” the congregation “to address other critical facility improvements as well as program development.”

Mokuaikaua Church courtesy Mokuaikaua Church

Mokuaikaua Church courtesy Mokuaikaua Church