View source for Kawaiahaʻo Church

{{Short description|Church in Hawaii, United States}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox church
| name                   = Kawaiahaʻo Church
| fullname               = 
| other name             = 
| image                  = Kawaiaha'o Church.jpg
| imagesize              = 250px
| caption                = Kawaiahaʻo Church is known as the "[[Westminster Abbey]] of Hawaiʻi": site of royal weddings, inaugurations, installations, christenings, funerals and tombs.
| location               = 957 Punchbowl Street<br />[[Honolulu]], [[Oahu|Oʻahu]], [[Hawaii|Hawaiʻi]]
| country                = [[United States]]
| denomination           = [[United Church of Christ]]
| website                = {{URL|https://www.kawaiahao.org/}}
| former name            =
| founded date           =
| dedication date        =
|language(s) =English and [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]]
| status                 = Church
| functional status      = Active
| heritage designation   = 
| designated date        = 
| architect              = 
| style                  = [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]]<br />[[Mediterranean Revival architecture|Mediterranean Revival]]
| years built            = 1836–1842
| groundbreaking         = 
| completed date         = 
| construction cost      = 
| length                 = <!-- {{convert| }} -->
| width                  = <!-- {{convert| }} -->
| materials              = 
| bells                  = 
| bells hung             = 
| bell weight            = <!-- {{long ton|0| }} -->
| division               = [[Conferences of the United Church of Christ|Hawaii Conference UCC]]
| pastor                 = Kenneth Makuakāne (''Kahu'')
| embedded               =
{{Infobox NRHP
| name                 = Kawaiahao Church and Mission Houses
| nrhp_type            = nhl
| embed                = yes
| image                =
| caption              =
| location             = 957 Punchbowl Street and 553 S. King Street, [[Honolulu, Hawaii]]
| coordinates          = {{coord|21.3043|-157.8579|region:US-HI_type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin             = Hawaii
| area                 = {{convert|8.8|acre}}<ref name="nrhpinv2" />
| built                = 1836–1842
| architect            = Hiram Bingham
| architecture         =
| designated_nrhp_type = December 29, 1962<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web
 |url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=185&ResourceType=Building
 |title=Kawaiahao Church and Mission Houses
 |access-date=2008-07-03
 |work=National Historic Landmark summary listing
 |publisher=National Park Service
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070301173848/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=185&ResourceType=Building
 |archive-date=2007-03-01
}}</ref>
| added                = October 15, 1966<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref>
| refnum               = 66000294
}}
}}
'''Kawaiahaʻo Church''' is a historic [[Congregationalism in the United States|Congregational]] [[church (building)|church]] located in [[Downtown Honolulu]] on the [[Hawaii]]an Island of [[Oahu|Oʻahu]]. The church, along with the Mission Houses, comprise the [[Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives|Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site]], which was designated a U.S. [[National Historic Landmark]] (NHL) in 1962.<ref name="nrhpinv2">{{cite web |url={{NHLS url|id=66000294}} |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Kawaiahao Church and Mission Houses |date=August 1978 |format=PDF |first=Benjamin |last=Levy |website=National Park Service |access-date=2009-06-22}} and {{NHLS url|id=66000294|title=''Accompanying eight photos, exterior and interior, from 1962''|photos=y}}&nbsp;{{small|(2.79&nbsp;MB)}}</ref><ref name="nhlsum" /> In 1966 it and all other NHLs were included in the first issuance of the [[National Register of Historic Places]].

At one time the central church of the [[Hawaiian Kingdom|Kingdom of Hawaiʻi]] and [[chapel]] of the [[Hawaiian Royal Family|Hawaiʻian royal family]], the church is popularly known as “Hawaiʻi's [[Westminster Abbey]]”. The name comes from the Hawaiian noun phrase ''ka wai a Haʻo'' (“the water of Haʻo”), because its location had a spring and freshwater pool of a High Chiefess named [https://hilo.hawaii.edu/wehe/?q=hao Haʻo].<ref>{{cite web |first=W.D. |last=Westervelt |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/pac/hloh/hloh06.htm |title=Hawaiian Legends of Old Honolulu |location=Boston |publisher=G.H. Ellis Press |year=1915 |page=17}}</ref> It has also been called ''hale pule lahui'' (“Great Stone Church”), the Hawaiian Tabernacle (''[[luakini]]''), the Mother Church, the Kingʻs Church, the Kingʻs Chapel, and the "''[[Aliʻi]]'' Church".

Today, Kawaiahaʻo continues to use the [[Hawaiian language]] for parts of its services. It is the oldest church on Oʻahu and one of the oldest standing [[Christianity|Christian]] places of worship in Hawaiʻi, although four thatched churches stood at or near the site of the present coral church. The oldest standing church is [[Mokuaikaua Church]] on the [[Hawaii (island)|Island of Hawaiʻi]]. Denominationally, it is part of the [[United Church of Christ]].

== History ==
[[File:Kawaiahao Church, Honolulu, in 1857.jpg|thumb|upright|left|First known photograph of the church in 1857 by Hugo Stangenwald]]
[[File:Fourth grass church at Kawaiahao.jpg|thumb|upright|The grass church that preceded the stone church seated 4000 people; by [[Francis Allyn Olmsted]]]]
The Kawaiaha'o mission was started in 1820. The stone building of Kawaiahaʻo Church was commissioned by the regency of [[Kaahumanu|Kaʻahumanu]], during the reigns of [[Kamehameha II]] and [[Kamehameha III]].  Designed by Rev. [[Hiram Bingham I|Hiram Bingham]] in the [[New England]] style of the Hawaiian [[missionary|missionaries]], it was constructed between 1836 and 1842 of some 14,000 thousand-[[U.S. customary units#Units of mass|pound]] slabs of coral rock quarried from an [[Fringing reef|offshore reef]] on the southern coast of [[Oahu|Oʻahu]].  Hawaiian divers dove three to six metres below sea-level to chisel out each coral block with hand tools, and the blocks then were transported from the reef onto the shore.<ref name=history>{{cite web |url=https://kawaiahaochurch.com/200-years-of-faith/ |title=200 Years of Faith |website=Kawaiahaʻo Church |access-date=August 9, 2023}}</ref>

The church house rivaled the concurrent construction of the [[Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace]] by the [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu|Apostolic Vicariate]] of the Hawaiian Islands.  Construction began on that churchhouse in 1840 and was substantially completed in 1843, one year after the completion of Kawaiahaʻo Church.

The name Kawaiahaʻo was not applied to the site until 1853.

Kawaiahaʻo Church was frequented by the chiefs of the Hawaiian Islands as well as the members of the reigning [[House of Kamehameha|Kamehameha dynasty]] and [[House of Kalakaua|Kalākaua dynasty]]. Kamehameha III, Kamehameha IV, Kamehameha V and Kalakaua took their oaths of office to their constitutions at Kawaiahaʻo Church. State burials were also held at the church as well the baptisms of aliʻi including aliʻi members who would eventually convert to other denominations or faiths.

Today, the upper gallery of the sanctuary is adorned with 20 portraits of Hawaiian royalty (Aliʻi).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kawaiahao.org/alii_of_hawaii.shtml |title=The Aliʻi of Hawaiʻi at Kawaiahaʻo Church |access-date=2008-01-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115200120/http://kawaiahao.org/alii_of_hawaii.shtml |archive-date=2008-01-15 |url-status=dead}}</ref>  The body of King [[William C. Lunalilo|Lunalilo]], who preferred burial in a church cemetery to burial in the [[Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii|Royal Mausoleum]], is buried in a crypt along with his father near the front courtyard.

But Kawaiahaʻo Church was not the only site of royal worship in the Islands. [[Kamehameha IV]] and his wife Emma were devout members of the [[Church of England]] and established the [[Anglican Communion|Anglican]] [[Church of Hawaii|Church of Hawaiʻi]], which evolved into the present-day [[Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii|Episcopal Diocese of Hawaiʻi]] after the islands were annexed by the [[United States]] and later gained statehood.  The royal couple commissioned the construction of the [[Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew, Honolulu|Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew]], which replaced Kawaiahaʻo Church as the principal centre of royal worship. [[Kamehameha V]], [[Kalakaua|Kalākaua]], and [[Liliuokalani|Liliʻuokalani]] (after the [[Kingdom of Hawaii#Overthrow|rebellion which overthrew the kingdom]]) preferred to use the cathedral – even though, before her reign, then Princess [[Liliuokalani|Liliʻuokalani]] had directed the choir of Kawaiahaʻo Church.  When [[Death and state funeral of Liliuokalani|Liliʻuokalani died]] in 1917, she lay in state in the church for a week before her funeral at [[Iolani Palace]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Honors of Royalty Return to Liliuokalani after Death |newspaper=The Hawaiian Gazette |location=Honolulu |date=November 20, 1917 |volume=X |issue=93 |page=2 |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025121/1917-11-20/ed-1/seq-2/ |access-date=February 4, 2017}}</ref>

== People associated with the church ==
{{Section needs more citations|date=December 2024}}
Other well-known persons associated with the church include:

* [[Kīnaʻu]], [[Kuhina Nui|kuhina nui]] of the Hawaiian Kingdom;
* [[Timothy Kamalehua Haʻalilio]], the Hawaiian envoy that helped to secure Hawaiian independence;
* [[John Papa ʻĪʻī|John (Ioane) Iʻi]], an advisor to Kamehameha III and teacher at the Chiefʻs Children School;
* [[Emma Kaili Metcalf Beckley Nakuina|Emma Kaʻili Metcalf Beckley Nakuina]], historian and the first record female judge in Hawaiʻi;
* [[Haʻalelea|Levi Haʻalelea]], an advisor to Kamehameha III;
* [[John Thomas Gulick]], a missionary to Micronesia and head of the Hawaiian board of Foreign Missions to Oceania and the Philippines;
* Daniel Opunui, one of the first Protestant missionaries in Micronesia was member of Kawaiahaʻo Church before Kaumakapili Church was built;
* [[David Kinimaka]], adopted brother of King Kalakaua and officer in the Hawaiian Royal Guards;
* [[Henri Berger|Henry Berger]], band master of the Royal Hawaiian Band and is buried at Kawaiahaʻo Church.
* [[Agnes Baldwin Alexander]], born in Honolulu in 1875 to [[William DeWitt Alexander]] and Abigail Charlotte Alexander, née Baldwin. Miss Alexander was a scion of two of Hawaii’s most illustrious Christian missionary families — the Alexanders and the Baldwins. In 1900 Agnes discovered the [[Baháʼí Faith]] while in Rome on a tour of Europe, which she had undertaken after a severe illness. In 1901 she returned to Hawaii as its first Baháʼí.<ref>{{cite web |last=Alexander |first=Agnes Baldwin |date=June 23, 1958 |editor-first=Thomas |editor-last=Linard |title=An account of how I became a Baha'i and my stays in Paris in 1901 and 1937 |url=http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~bahai/notes/alexand.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720105222/http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~bahai/notes/alexand.htm |archive-date=2011-07-20 |access-date=August 9, 2023 |website=Michigan State University}}</ref>
* [[Abraham Akaka]], late pastor of the Kawaiahaʻo Church and most remembered for his role in the US Civil Rights Movement.

=== List of Nā Kahu (senior pastors) ===
[[File:Kawaiaha'o Church and front gate.jpg|thumb|Kawaiaha'o Church and front gate]]
* [[Hiram Bingham I|Hiram Bingham]] (1820–1840)
* [[Richard Armstrong (Hawaii missionary)|Richard Armstrong]] (1840–1848)
* [[Ephraim Weston Clark]] (1848–1863)
* [[Henry Hodges Parker]] (1863–1917)
* [[Akaiko Akana]] (1918–1933)
* [[William Kamau]] (1934–1940)
* [[Edward Kahale]] (1940–1957)
* [[Abraham Akaka]] (1957–1984)
* William H. Kaina (1984–1997)
* James Fung (2000–2002)
* Curtis P. Kekuna (2004–2017)
* Kenneth Makuakāne (2018–present)

=== List of interim pastors ===
* Ronald F.K. Ching – Intentional interim (1998)
* James Kimo Mersberg – Intentional interim (2017–2018)

==See also==
*[[List of the oldest buildings in Hawaii]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Kawaiahaʻo Church}}
* [http://kawaiahao.org/ Official site]
* {{HABS |survey=HI-14 |id=hi0050 |title=Kawaiahao Church, Punchbowl & King Streets, Honolulu, Honolulu County, HI |photos=19 |color= |dwgs=10 |data=15 |cap=2}}
** {{HABS |survey=HI-15 |id=hi0006 |title=Lunalilo's Tomb, Punchbowl & King Streets (Kawaiahao Churchyard), Honolulu, Honolulu County, HI |photos=9 |color= |dwgs=6 |data=15 |cap=1|link=no}}

{{Registered Historic Places}}
{{Kawaiahaʻo Church Kahus}}
{{Christianity in Hawaii}}
{{Hawaiian royal sites}}
{{Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kawaiaha'o Church}}
[[Category:Churches in Honolulu]]
[[Category:Neoclassical architecture in Hawaii]]
[[Category:Mediterranean Revival architecture in Hawaii]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in Hawaii]]
[[Category:Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii]]
[[Category:Churches completed in 1842]]
[[Category:United Church of Christ churches in Hawaii]]
[[Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in Hawaii]]
[[Category:1842 establishments in Hawaii]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Honolulu]]
[[Category:Native Hawaiian culture in Honolulu]]
[[Category:Neoclassical church buildings in the United States]]