Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings | Page 106

September 23, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kapu and the New Religion

With the Hawaiian Kapu, if you didn’t follow the rules, you could die.

With Christianity, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Pā‘ao (CA 1300,) from Kahiki (Tahiti,) is reported to have introduced (or significantly expanded) a religious and political code in old Hawai‘i, collectively called the kapu system. This forbid many things and demanded many more, with many infractions being punishable by death.

The kapu system helped the ali‘i and kahuna keep their power over the people. The people believed that breaking the kapu would bring the anger of the gods on themselves and their community. They made every effort to follow the kapu set down by the ali‘i and kahuna.

Anything connected with the gods and their worship was considered sacred, such as idols, heiau and priests. Because chiefs were believed to be descendants of the gods, many kapu related to chiefs and their personal possessions.

The Hawaiian kapu can be grouped into three categories. The first evolved from the basic precepts of the Hawaiian religion and affected all individuals, but were considered by foreign observers to be especially oppressive and burdensome to women.

One of the most fundamental of this type of prohibition forbade men and women from eating together and also prohibited women from eating most of the foods offered as ritual sacrifices to the gods (for example, it was kapu for women to eat pork or bananas.)

“One thing which the priest urged upon the king was to kill off the ungodly people, those who broke tabu and ate with the women, or who cohabited with a woman while she was confined to her infirmary, and the women who intruded themselves into the heiau.”

“Another thing he urged was that the woman who beat tapa on a tabu day, or who went canoeing on a tabu day should be put to death; also that the man who secretly left the service at the temple to go home and lie with his wife should be put to death; that the men and women who did these things, whether from the backwoods – kua‘āina – or near the court should be put to death.”

“That any man, woman, or child, who should revile the high priest, or a keeper of the idols, calling him a filth-eater, or saying that he acted unseemly with women (i ka ai mea kapu) should be put to death, but he might ransom his life by a fine of a fathom-long pig.”

“Again, that if the king by mistake ate of food or meat that was ceremonially common or unclean – noa – the king should be forgiven, but the man whose food or meat it was should be put to death, if the king was made ill. In such a case a human sacrifice was offered to appease the deity, that the king might recover from his illness.”

“Again that certain kinds of fish should be declared tabu to the women as food, also pork, bananas and cocoanuts; that if any large fish – a whale – or a log strapped with iron, should be cast ashore, it was to be offered to the gods, (i. e., it was to be given to the priests for the use of the king).” (Malo)

A second category of kapu were those relating to the inherited rank of the nobility and were binding on all those equal to or below them in status.

This system, a “sanctioned avoidance” behavior conforming to specific rules and prohibitions, prescribed the type of daily interactions among and between the classes, between the people and their gods, and between the people and nature.

By compelling avoidance between persons of extreme rank difference, it reinforced class divisions by protecting mana (spiritual power) from contamination while at the same time preventing the mana from harming others.

These kapu posed enormous difficulties for the high Ali‘i because it restricted their behavior and activities to some degree. Because these kapu prohibited the highest-ranking chiefs from easily walking around during the day, some of them traveled in disguise to protect the people and themselves from the difficulties presented by this custom.

The third category were edicts issued randomly that were binding on all subjects and included such acts as the placing of kapu on certain preferred surfing, fishing or bathing spots for a chief’s exclusive use.

In addition, the chiefs proclaimed certain kapu seasons as conservation measures to regulate land use and safeguard resources.

These had the same force as other kapu, but pertained to the gathering or catching of scarce foodstuffs, such as particular fruits and species of fish; to water usage; and to farming practices. These kapu were designed to protect resources from overuse.

While the social order defined very strict societal rules, exoneration was possible if one could reach a puʻuhonua (place of refuge) and be cleansed, as well as cleared by a kahuna (priest).

The puʻuhonua was especially important in times of war as a refuge for women and children, as well as warriors from the defeated side.

Puʻuhonua were locations which, through the power of the gods and the generosity of the chiefs, afforded unconditional absolution to those who broke taboos, disobeyed rulers, or committed other crimes. (Schoenfelder)

Ethno-historical literature, and available physical, cultural, and locational data, note at least 57-sites across the Islands. Puʻuhonua tended to occur in areas of high population and/or in areas frequented by chiefs. (Schoenfelder)

These range from enclosed compounds such as Hōnaunau, to platforms (Halulu on Lānaʻi), to fortified mountain-tops (Kawela on Molokaʻi), to unmodified natural features (Kūkaniloko on Oʻahu) and to entire inhabited land sections, as at Lāhainā on Maui. (Schoenfelder)

This intricate system that supported Hawai‘i’s social and political structure directed every activity of Hawaiian life, from birth through death, until its overthrow by King Kamehameha II (Liholiho).

Shortly after the death of Kamehameha I in 1819, King Kamehameha II (Liholiho) declared an end to the kapu system. In a dramatic and highly symbolic event, Kamehameha II ate and drank with women, thereby breaking the important eating kapu.

This changed the course of the social, political and religious structure and ended the kapu system, effectively weakened belief in the power of the gods and the inevitability of divine punishment for those who opposed them.

Some have suggested it was the missionaries that ended the kapu that disrupted the social/political system in the Islands; that is not true – the missionaries had not even arrived in the Islands, yet. On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of missionaries from the northeast US, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Islands.

The Mission Prudential Committee in giving instructions to the pioneers of 1819 said: “Your mission is a mission of mercy, and your work is to be wholly a labor of love. …”

“Your views are not to be limited to a low, narrow scale, but you are to open your hearts wide, and set your marks high. You are to aim at nothing short of covering these islands with fruitful fields, and pleasant dwellings and schools and churches, and of Christian civilization.” (The Friend)

Among their teaching included, “Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’” (John 6:35)

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 6:16)

Keōpūolani is said to have been the first convert of the missionaries in the Islands, receiving baptism from Rev. William Ellis in Lāhainā on September 16, 1823. Keōpūolani was spoken of “with admiration on account of her amiable temper and mild behavior”. (William Richards) She was ill and died shortly after her baptism.

Within five years of the initial arrival of the missionaries, a dozen chiefs had sought Christian baptism and church membership, including the king’s regent Kaʻahumanu. The Hawaiian people followed their native leaders, accepting the missionaries as their new priestly class. (Schulz)

On December 24, 1825, Kaʻahumanu, six other Chiefs and one makaʻāinana (commoner) were baptized and received Holy Communion at Kawaiahaʻo Church. This was the beginning of expanded admission into the Church.

Kamakau noted of her baptism, “Kaʻahumanu was the first fruit of the Kawaiahaʻo church … for she was the first to accept the word of God, and she was the one who led her chiefly relations as the first disciples of God’s church.”

“Her influence and authority had long been paramount and undisputed with the natives, and was now discreetly used for the benefit of the nation.”

“She visited the whole length and breadth of the Islands, to recommend to her people, attention to schools, and to the doctrines and duties of the word of God, and exerted all her influence to suppress vice, and restrain the evils which threatened the ruin of her nation.” (Lucy Thurston)

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September 17, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pua‘aiki

“The truth here stated, that there is evermore a law of compensation and equipoise running through all things, has its comment and corroboration in the character and history of a remarkable man, through the earthly scene of whose labours I once passed, in order to reach the eastern extremity of the Island of Maui.” (Cheever)

“He is poor and despised in his person, small almost to deformity; and in his countenance, from the loss of sight, not prepossessing.”

“Still, in our judgment he bears on him the image and superscription of Christ; and if so, how striking an example of the truth of the Apostle’s declaration …”

“‘God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen: yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are; that no flesh should glory in his presence!’” (Cheever)

The Pioneer Company of missionaries arrived in the Islands “early found among the thousands of their degraded inhabitants, a poor blind man, almost destitute of clothing, habitation, and friends. He was born at Waikapu … probably about the year 1785.”

“His barbarous mother, following many of her unnatural and murderous countrywomen, attempted to bury him alive in his infancy; but he was rescued by a relative; and surviving the ravages of pestilence, war, and private violence, he reached the years of maturity.”

“Like many of his countrymen of that dark period, he received a diminutive, degrading name, and was called Pu-a-a-i-ki, (Poo-ah-ah-ee-kee, little hog,) no faint shadow of his gross mind, his neglected childhood, and unrestrained youth.”

“In some of the Hawaiian arts he was, before the loss of his sight, more skilled than many of his countrymen. He was taught the lua – an art professed by a small class, by which a proficient, it was believed, could, without weapons or bonds, seize and hold a lonely traveller unacquainted with this art, break his bones, and take the spoil.”

“He learned also the hula … In the rehearsal or cantilation of these songs he excelled, and he often employed his skill in singing, drumming, and dancing for the amusement of the king and chiefs, by which he procured the means of subsistence”. (Bingham)

“Having a shagged head of black hair, unshielded by a hat from tropical suns and showers, and, at middle age, a beard growing at full length under the chin, the rest being plucked out, he roamed shoeless, without moral or mental culture, without hope, and without a Saviour.” (Bingham)

“In these circumstances, he attracted the notice of Kamāmalu, the favourite Queen of LIholiho, or Kamehameha II., who afterwards died in England.”

“His skill in the hula, or native dance, his being a hairy man, and other reasons not easily known at present, recommended him to the favour of the chiefs; not, indeed, as a companion, but as a buffoon. When sent for, he made sport for the Queen and other chiefs, and received in return a pittance of food and of his favourite awa.”

“On the arrival of the pioneers of the mission at Kailua, in the spring of 1820, Puaaiki was there with the chiefs, but he probably knew nothing of them or of their errand.”

“Having given permission to the missionaries to remain at the Islands for a season, the King and chiefs sailed for Oahu. Mr. Bingham accompanied them, and the blind dancer followed in their train.”

“On arriving at Honolulu, he had a severe fit of sickness. In addition to this, his disease of the eyes became much aggravated; so that, shut up in darkness, and unable to make his accustomed visits to the Queen, he was well nigh forgotten, and in danger of perishing.” (Cheever)

“He was visited by John Honolii, a native youth educated at Cornwall, Connecticut; who, seeing Puaaiki lying in this pitiable situation, was touched with.”

“Christian compassion, and spoke to him of the great and good Physician, who alone could heal his maladies and restore his sight. Puaaiki seemed to rouse up on hearing tidings of so unwonted a character, and he eagerly inquired, ‘What is that?’”

“On being again directed to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Physician of souls, he said at once that he would go and hear of him. As soon as he was able to crawl out of the house, he accompanied Honolii to the place of worship, and heard for the first time the glad tidings of great joy to all people, that the Son of Man had come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Cheever)

“As the claims and proffers of the gospel were made known to this man, he was led to see that not only his life of idolatry and the indulgence of heathen passions and appetites was a course of heinous sin, but that when the forms of idolatry and the love of it were laid aside, his heart was still vile, and that he needed the washing of regeneration and the blood of Christ for cleansing.”

“This poor man did not wait for the king and chiefs to mark out for him his new and wiser course; but he took it contrary to their choice. He took it, in his poverty and weakness, at the hazard of offending them, of losing his maintenance, and encountering the sneers of his associates.”

Before any of us regarded him as a true Christian, and, as I think, before he believed himself to be such, like many of his countrymen in later years, hopefully converted, and like the early converts at Jerusalem, as he beheld and admired the new and heavenly light, he began early to recommend to others a serious attention to the word and kingdom of God.” (Bingham)

“While he cherished a desire to be a doer of the word, the grandeur of the objects and the force of the truths presented to him in the gospel, helped him successfully to cultivate his mental powers. Unattracted by the objects of sight in public worship, he heard perhaps better than others; and having more leisure through the week, he reflected more.” (Bingham)

“That man was the first convert to Christianity at these Islands, and the first who received the Christian ordinance of baptism, formally introducing him to the fellowship of the universal Church, under the Christian name of Bartimeus, on the tenth day of July, 1825.”

“His name is on heavenly records, and it is familiar to the ear of Protestant Christendom, as the Blind Hawaiian Preacher, or Bartimeus L Pua‘aiki.”

“Though derided, it does not appear that he was opposed in any way, or prevented from seeking instruction; and some of the chiefs themselves, for whom he had made sport, soon after became kindly disposed to the new religion, and all of them, at length, friendly to the Mission.” (Cheever)

“Regarding himself as a sinner, and relying alone on the merits of Christ for justification, Bartimeus was distinguished for uniform humility, notwithstanding the deference of the people, the esteem of his brethren, the confidence of the missionaries, and the respect of the chiefs, that were shown him.” (Bingham)

“Residing chiefly at Wailuku for some two years, he itinerated and preached at many villages around the island, generally about three Sabbaths in a month at out-stations from five to twenty miles distant.”

“In the early part of 1842, our collective mission … say, “Bartimeus the blind preacher of Maui is regularly licensed as a preacher, and labors both abundantly and successfully in the wide and destitute regions of that island.”

“As a preacher generally solemn in his manner, Bartimeus made free use of the very language of Scripture with striking appositeness, quoting verbatim, and often book, chapter, and verse, with great accuracy and astonishing facility.”

“The verse-system, so useful to the Hawaiians, of committing to memory a verse a day of the sacred oracles, and reciting seven verses a week at the Sabbath-school, doubtless contributed materially to his familiarity with the Bible, and his readiness to aid in Sabbath-school labors, and more generally to instruct and guide those who were ready to hear him.”

“Grace, that had rescued, sanctified, and borne him thus far, sustained him as he was stepping down into the valley of the shadow of death. His conversation was in heaven.”

“Calmly and peacefully he leaned upon his Saviour, whom for twenty years he had endeavored to serve; and on Sabbath evening, September 17, 1843, he surrendered his liberated spirit into his gracious hands.” (Bingham)

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Bartimeus of the Sandwich Islands-Bingham

September 15, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Holy Ghost Catholic Church

Elizabeth (Isabel) was a Spanish princess who was given in marriage to King Denis of Portugal at the age of twelve. She was very beautiful and very lovable. She was also very devout, and went to Mass every day. (Catholic-org)

Queen Elizabeth died on July 4th, 1336. She was 65 years of age, perhaps somewhat older, and had incorporated into her passage through this earth prayers, sacrifices, interventions for peace among monarchs, acts of worship, and works of mercy too numerous to mention in this brief piece.

Almost three centuries after her death, His Holiness Pope Urban VIII inexplicably broke his reported vow that there would be no canonizations during his Pontificate: He canonized St. Elizabeth of Portugal on Holy Trinity Sunday, May 25th, 1625. (SaintsCatholic)

Centuries later, Portuguese began arriving in Hawai‘i in large numbers to work on plantations in 1879. Many continued to be employed by the plantations even after their contracts had been fulfilled.

Others, however, sought to take up independent work and on Maui turned especially to farming and ranching. The middle slope of Haleakala is an exceptionally fertile region and many people of Portuguese ancestry settled here, some homesteading the land.

Before long, this growing Catholic community felt the need for a priest. In 1882 James Beissel, a priest from Prussia, was assigned to Makawao, and his district extended from Ulupalakua around to Huelo. At some time between 1894-1897, he designed the Holy Ghost Church in Kula and supervised its construction. (NPS)

The two acres of land on which it was built were donated by Louis and Randal von Tempsky in Waiakoa, and the building was financed by weekly auctions of cattle by local ranchers. (Kula Catholic Community)

The octagonal shape of the structure, according to local belief, derives from the fact that it corresponded with the shape of a replica of the crown of Queen Elizabeth of Portugal, which the church housed.

The crown of St. Elizabeth plays an important role-in the Portuguese community’s Holy Ghost celebration. According to folk beliefs in the Azore Islands, from which many of Hawaii’s Portuguese population immigrated, Queen Elizabeth gave the Catholic Church her crown after she had prayed to the Holy Ghost and her people were delivered from famine. (NPS)

The richly decorated altar and the Portuguese language Stations of the Cross were commissioned by Father Beissel in 1895 and were carved by the famous artisan and master woodcarver, Ferdinand Stuflesser, from Groden, Tirol, Austria.

Shipped in nine separate crates around the Cape of Good Hope to Hawai‘i, the altar and stations were hauled by oxcart from Kahului Harbor to Waiakoa and reassembled by the faithful members of the parish.

They are recognized now as examples of museum-quality ecclesiastical art of that time. In January of 1899 Bishop Ropert Gulstan of Honolulu arrived to officiate at the formal dedication the church. (Kula Catholic Community)

This frame church, the only known nineteenth-century octagonal-shaped building in Hawai‘i, is approximately sixty feet in diameter. Its steep, corrugated-metal hipped roof is surmounted by a mock clerestory with a blind arcade and terminates with a steeple supported on a round-arched arcade with a balustrade.

Tuscan columns serve as corner posts for the eighteen-foot-high, tongue-and-groove walls, six of which have round-arched stained glass windows. The interior is a large octagonal space with the chancel at the north end opposite the entrance and choir loft.

Four central Tuscan columns carry an octagonal rib-vaulted, tongue-and-groove ceiling. The stations of the cross are unusual in that they are inscribed in Portuguese rather than Latin or English. (SAH Archipedia)

In 1991, under the leadership of Father Michael Owens, a major restoration of the church and altars was initiated, requiring the closure of the church for about one year. In 1995, the parish was able to celebrate its Centennial year in its resplendent, restored condition.

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Holy Ghost Catholic Church

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Holy Ghost Catholic_Church

Holy Ghost Catholic Church-high alter

St Elizabeth

September 12, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ali‘i Letters – Kaʻahumanu to Evarts (1831)

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives (Mission Houses) collaborated with Awaiaulu Foundation to digitize, transcribe, translate and annotate over 200-letters written by 33-Chiefs.

The letters, written between 1823 and 1887, are assembled from three different collections: the ABCFM Collection held by Harvard’s Houghton Library, the HEA Collection of the Hawaii Conference-United Church of Christ and the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society.

These letters provide insight into what the Ali‘i (Chiefs) were doing and thinking at the time, as well as demonstrate the close working relationship and collaboration between the aliʻi and the missionaries.

In this letter, Elisabeth Kaʻahumanu writes to Mr. Jeremiah Evarts regarding the success of the mission in Hawaiʻi. She includes her religious sentiments to the brethren of the ABCFM.

Jeremiah F. Evarts was an early leader of the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions (ABCFM). He was a reformer who advocated for the rights of Native Americans and wrote under the pseudonym William Penn.

Kaʻahumanu, favorite wife of Kamehameha I, served as the Kuhina Nui, or regent at the time of this letter. She became a staunch advocate for literacy and Christianity for all her people.

“Oahu September 11, 1831”

“Regards to you, Mr. Evarts, missionary superintendent and my first brother in Christ Jesus,”

“Here is my message to you along with my joy.”

“Here I live by the voice of salvation of Jesus Christ who resurrected me from death. I was dwelling in the core of death. I was adorned and bedecked by the glory of death and its symbols.”

“When I heard the voice of Jesus sounding in my ears, it was a chill in my heart, speaking as follows, [“]Come unto to me all of you who are weary and heavy-laden and I shall give you rest.[”]”

“And his voice then said again, [“]He who thirsts, let him come and drink the waters of salvation.[”] So, I rose to come and lie under the shelter of his feet, with great trepidation.”

“Here I am bearing his yoke, thinking to myself that I am unable to move his yoke, he being the one who enables me with his assistance night and day; there I forever dwell in his glory and his love for me.”

“There is my desire and my affection, with the intention of my heart and my spirit to submit to Jesus. There my mouth and my tongue shall forever give thanks for the life I live until I join in his everlasting glory. That is my humble message to you.”

“Here is this other message of mine to you. I am grateful for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ for his assistance in sending new teachers for us.”

“They have arrived and we have beheld their eyes and faces. We met in the presence of our Lord and in our own presence with gratitude to our Lord for protecting them on the ocean until they arrived here in Hawaii.”

“We abide here, teaching the native language of Hawaii so they will understand. Then, we sow the gardens with fruitful seeds for eternal salvation.”

“At that point, my elder brethren, them [the teachers] and my native brothers and sisters together will take up the will of our Lord in this archipelago, praying to him to assist so that the bumpy places be smoothed by him through his intentions for these islands from Hawaii to Kauai.”

“But my adopted child and I carried the word of our Lord from Hawaii to Kauai with love in our hearts for God, traveling to speak of his love, his word, and his laws and to tell people that they should abide by them.”

“That is what we, my adopted child and I, speak of. It is not according to our will, but according to the will of the Lord that we take this up.”

“That is my humble message to you.”

“Here is another remaining message that I say to you. Do express my regard to the brethren in Christ and my beloved sisters in Christ Jesus. Here are my regards to you all.”

“Do pray often to God for all the lands of the unenlightened, for all those remaining in enlightened lands, and for us as well and we shall do the same with the brethren here.”

“Pray often to God for the unenlightened lands, and for the remainder of those in enlightened lands, and for you all as well.”

“Thus we beseech our Lord so all peoples cooperate through him that his kingdom be unified to the bounds of the earth, and so all people unite behind him to praise his everlasting name.”

“That is my message of affection to you all. Deep regards to you.”

“Though we may not meet in person in this world, it is our hope that if we do meet in this world, our souls will also meet in the glory of the kingdom of our Lord of salvation, Jesus Christ.”

“That is the end of the message to you.”

“By Elisabeth Kaahumanu”

Click HERE to link to the original letter, its transcription, translation and annotation.

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US, led by Hiram Bingham, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.) They arrived in the Islands and anchored at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820.

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”,) about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.

One of the earliest efforts of the missionaries, who arrived in 1820, was the identification and selection of important communities (generally near ports and aliʻi residences) as “stations” for the regional church and school centers across the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawaiian Mission Houses’ Strategic Plan themes note that the collaboration between Native Hawaiians and American Protestant missionaries resulted in the
• The introduction of Christianity;
• The development of a written Hawaiian language and establishment of schools that resulted in widespread literacy;
• The promulgation of the concept of constitutional government;
• The combination of Hawaiian with Western medicine, and
• The evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition (with harmony and choral singing).

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Kaahumanu to Evarts – September 11, 1831-1

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September 10, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Imiola

During the mid-nineteenth century, Imiola Congregational Church at Waimea, Hawaii became the main base for Congregational missionary activities in the Hāmākua and South Kohala Districts of Hawaii. (Imiola means ‘seek salvation.’)

The first Imiola Church was a grass hut built by order of the local chiefs for traveling missionaries. No construction date has been found for the first church, although it had been built and dedicated by King Kamehameha III before 1832.

It contained a rough pulpit and a crude window. Congregations sat on mats on the ground and often were so large that the tiny structure could barely accommodate them.

Reverend Lyons wrote in his journal that at least one hundred little grass schoolhouses were scattered around his church in the immediate Waimea area.

Imiola Church’s membership, combined with that of Reverend Titus Coan’s church in Hilo, accounted for three out of every four church members on all islands in May, 1838. Lyons’ triumph was short-lived, however. Of the nearly 5,000-natives who became members during the peak period of religious revival, only 1,197 were in good standing by 1841.

By February of 1843, the first church had been torn down and was replaced by a stone structure with thatched roof and windows. Hundreds of natives helped in the collection of stones, often carrying them miles to the construction site.

It was “A large stone edifice whose extension of stately walls and two large panel doors and smiling windows, presents an imposing form and whose interior …”

“… with the addition of a boarded floor and well-arranged seats and neat simple pulpit, furnishes new attractions to the native worshipper.” (Lyons, September 15, 1841; Gulick)

Difficult as the raising of the second church was, the structure lasted for only a little over twelve years. At the end of April, 1855, it was determined to be unsafe and was abandoned.

On June 11 of that year, the roof collapsed and was described by Lyons as “a mass of ruins”. On August 29, 1855, the cornerstone of the new church was laid.

“Under the cornerstone (SW corner) was deposited a tin box wrapped in mamaki kapa – Hawaiian Bible, hymn books, newspapers, laws, etc.”

By 1857, the church was completed and dedicated. The ceiling rafters, floor, and exterior clapboard were made of koa, a Hawaiian hardwood.

Lyons’ recollections of the construction of the building list two important figures. Mr. Cairr “was engaged to put up the new building” and Alani was responsible for planing the clapboard siding. The church was constructed by the help of church members who did most of the heavy work.

Imiola Congregational Church is a rectangular wooden gabled structure which makes use of indigenous construction materials. The church measures approximately 40 by 60 feet and is set on stone footings and a dry fieldstone wall.

It is sheathed with bevel siding. Shingles cover the solid NE end and located on the opposite end is a small gabled entrance way with a curved lintel piece. A rectangular tower with crenellations and a cross crown the high-pitched gable.

By 1882, the church required repairs and between the money donated and funds collected at a church fair, Imiola was reshingled, repainted and rematted.

“There were no doors to Imiola church in Laiana’s time, and when I was little the entrance was always open. There was no other church like it, for the benches all had horse hair cushions, covered with brocaded material. We youngsters used to go in and run around and pick out the best cushions and drag them along and change them to our own pew.” (Helen Lindsey Parker; Makua Laina)

Competition with the Catholic Church, the drastic drop in the Hawaiian population, as well as the movement of many natives to coastal urban centers accounted for the dwindling congregation.

Two years before his death, a crowd which included Waimea’s young, old, middle aged, Catholics, Mormons, Protestants, and non-believers all came to one of Lyons’ services to honor him.

As was the practice, the early missionaries learned the Hawaiian language and taught their lessons in Hawaiian, rather than English. In part, the mission did not want to create a separate caste and portion of the community as English-speaking Hawaiians. In later years, the instruction, ultimately, was in English.

Lyons was an avid supporter of the Hawaiian language. He wrote a letter to the editor in The Friend newspaper (September 2, 1878) that, in part noted:

“An interminable language…it is one of the oldest living languages of the earth, as some conjecture, and may well be classed among the best…the thought to displace it, or to doom it to oblivion by substituting the English language, ought not for a moment to be indulged. … Long live the grand old, sonorous, poetical Hawaiian language.”

He was lovingly known to Hawaiians as Ka Makua Laiana, Haku Mele o ka Aina Mauna – Father Lyons, Lyric Poet of the Mountain County.

Lyons was fluent in the Hawaiian language and composed many poems and hymns; his best known and beloved work is the hymn “Hawaiʻi Aloha” sung to the tune of “I Left It All With Jesus” (circa 1852.) The song was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame in 1998.

“Widely regarded as Hawaiʻi’s second anthem, this hymn is sung in both churches and public gatherings. It is performed at important government and social functions to bring people together in unity, and at the closing of Hawaiʻi Legislative sessions.”

“The first appearance of “Hawaiʻi Aloha” in a Protestant hymnal was in 1953, nearly 100 years after it was written. Today, people automatically stand when this song is played extolling the virtues of ‘beloved Hawaiʻi.’” (Hawaiian Music Museum).

In 1886, Lyons died at the age of 79. He was buried some distance from the church on the grounds of his old homestead. With the help of Parker Ranch management, his remains were removed to the grounds of Imiola Church in April, 1939. (Nelia and I were married at Imiola, seventeen years ago, today.)

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