Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Keōpūolani Baptism

On the arrival of the American missionaries in April 1820, all the chiefs were consulted respecting the expediency of their establishment in the islands. Some of the chiefs seemed to doubt; but Keōpūolani without hesitation approved their proposals. Keōpūolani welcomed them. As the highest ranking ali‘i of her time, her embracing of Christianity set a crucial seal of approval on the missionaries and their god. Later, she was very ill and returned to Lahaina (May 31, 1823), asking missionaries to join her.

Immediately on their arrival, she requested them to commence teaching, and said, also, “It is very proper that my sons (meaning the missionaries) be present with me at morning and evening prayers.” On the last week in August, Keōpūolani had a premonition of her approaching death. She was baptized by William Ellis and died shortly thereafter (September 16, 1823). Keōpūolani is said to have been the first convert of the missionaries in the islands and the first to receive a Protestant baptism. (Kalanimōku and Boki had previously (1819) been baptized by the French Catholics. Kalanimōku later (1825) joined the Protestant Church, at the same time as Ka‘ahumanu.)

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Hawai‘i Island (1823)

“Messrs (William) Ellis, (Asa) Thurston, (Artemas) Bishop and (Joseph) Goodrich made a tour round the island of Hawai‘i, examining its various districts, conversing with the natives, and preaching the gospel 130 different times.”

They left Kailua-Kona heading south and circled the Island; click the linkc for more information and their descriptions of respective parts of the Island.

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London Missionary Society

Following Cook’s Pacific voyages, Britain’s new fascination with the Polynesians was fueled by the arrival in London of a Polynesian – Omai. Joseph Banks, botanist on Cook’s ship the Endeavour, dressed Omai in tailor-made suits, the portraitist Joshua Reynolds painted him. King George III himself eventually requested a meeting. Omai cheerfully shook hands when the meeting took place, saying `How do, King Tosh,’ to the King’s reported delight. This later led to questions for the Evangelicals. Why did British Christianity, with the means at hand, lack a missionary history? When had there last been a serious missionary movement among Christians anywhere?

On August 9, 1796, a service was held for the inaugural mission at Surrey Chapel. Just four of the chosen thirty were ordained ministers. They sailed at six the next morning. Nearly seven months later they anchored off the island of Tahiti. The first known Christian missionaries in Polynesia came from the London Missionary Society, an ecumenical Protestant organization; they landed in Tahiti, the Marquesas, then Tonga. One London Missionary Society member was William Ellis. The London mission sent him to Hawai‘i; they reached Oahu on the 5th of February, 1823. Ellis remained in the Islands for eighteen months.

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Tahitian Influence on Christianity in Hawai‘i

By the time European explorers entered the Pacific in the 15th century, almost all of the habitable islands had been settled for hundreds of years and oral traditions told of explorations, migrations and travels across this immense watery world. The first known Christian missionaries in Polynesia came from the London Missionary Society, an ecumenical Protestant organization; they landed in Tahiti, the Marquesas, then Tongatapu in Tonga.

The first Europeans arrived in Tahiti in 1767; in 1797 the London Missionary Society sent 29 missionaries to Tahiti. Toketa, a Tahitian and convert to Christianity, arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1818; he was a member of the household of the chief (Governor) John Adams Kuakini; he became a teacher to Hawaiian chiefs. William Ellis, with the London Missionary Society in Tahiti, arrived in Hawai‘i on February 5, 1823, other Tahitians joined him; the American Mission immediately saw benefit in working with Ellis and the Tahitians.

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Waiola Church – (Waineʻe Church) Lāhainā, Maui

For several years after the American Board missionaries reached Lāhainā in 1823, church services were held in temporary structures. The first mission to Maui was founded by Reverend William Richards at that time.  For a few years, temporary structures made from wooden poles with a thatched roof were used. The church started under the name […]