St. James’ Circle: A Hub of Resilience
By Jan Wizinowich It’s Thursday morning and St. James’ Circle in Waimea is a humming hive of activity. The church kitchen is abuzz with volunteers cheerfully chopping ingredients, then cooking and filling pans with the evening’s weekly community meal. Another…
200 Years at Mokuaikaua Church: Preserving a Beacon of Faith in Kailua Village
By Fern Gavelek The first Christian church established in the Hawaiian Islands lives on today as an active and caring fellowship called Mokuaikaua Church. Founded in 1820, the church is commemorating its 200th anniversary with a massive preservation of its…
Puakõ’s Historical Hokuloa Church
By Ma‘ata Tukuafu Driving through the tropical coastal community of Puakō, one will notice that huge mansions have replaced many of the humble beach shacks that once populated the little village of 163 homes. There is one building that is…
Hawai‘i Island’s Most Prolific Church Builder: Rev. John D. Paris
By Denise Laitinen Dotting the landscape along main highways and backcountry roads, historic churches in West Hawai‘i range from small wooden chapels to impressive stone structures. It may surprise people to learn the same man, the Reverend John D. Paris,…
Hawai’i Island’s Famous “Painted Church”
By Denise Laitinen An incredible example of American folk art, St. Benedict Catholic Church in Captain Cook is one of the most well-known and colorful churches on Hawai‘i Island. Tucked into the slopes of Mauna Loa among coffee farms above…
100 Years of Worship: Ka Mauloa Church
By Denise Laitinen If you stop and listen on any given Sunday as you travel along Highway 11 in Kurtistown, you may hear the sounds of church parishioners singing in Hawaiian. Small in size and humble in nature with roots…
Puka‘ana Church: Steeped in History and Spirit
By Denise Laitinen Like a lei of vibrant Hawaiian flowers, you will find small historic churches dotting the landscape around Hawai‘i Island. Like the flowers bound together in lei, many of the churches are connected, either built by the same…
Queen Emma’s Church
Kate Kealani H. Winter As visitors and locals hurry along the Hawai‘i Belt Road (Highway 11) near Kealakekua, they look mauka (toward the mountain) and see an old lava rock wall that seems to enclose a very old graveyard, and…
Light of Compassion at the Temple of Great Happiness: Rev. Jiko Nakade at Daifukuji Soto Mission
The weekday commuter traffic creeps up Hwy. 11 in South Kona near the Y-intersection at Honalo, slowing down briefly to pause at the intersection before accelerating on to the next daily obligation. Drivers glance at the familiar sight of the…
Then & Now: Moku‘aikaua Church
By Ann C. Peterson Church folks have gathered every Sunday for 185 years on the site where the stately Moku`aikaua Church now stands in Kailua Village. Their purpose has remained the same, but the structure sheltering their worship has changed…
