The history of Christianity in Hawaiʻi is a complicated one. And now parts of that history have led to an investigation by the United Church of Christ. The research was initiated by a couple dozen historically Native Hawaiian churches — some of which celebrated 200 years of service in the islands this year.
Church service is underway at Laupāhoehoe Congregational Church just 23 miles north of Hilo. The pews of this tiny church are unusually packed today with crowds overflowing under tents outside. This church has been a fixture in the Laupāhoehoe community for 200 years.
Kahu Alvira Cacabellos’ family has been serving the church for three generations.
“Our first church was down at Laupāhoehoe Point,” Cacabellos said. “That was my grandma’s church when it was down there in the valley in 1823. They brought that church up to where our church is right now and my mom and dad served at this church also.”
Like many who attended the celebration, Waimea Pastor Mary Paio had her own history here.
“When I met my husband, he comes from ʻOʻokala, we got married here at the Laupāhoehoe Congregational Church Nov. 20, 1965,” Paio said. “My husband went home to the glory of God in 1996. If he was still alive today, it would be 58 years in the marriage.”
While there is much to celebrate with 200 years of Christianity in Hawaiʻi, retired ʻŌlaʻa kahu Ron Fujiyoshi said some history is yet to be uncovered. He recently learned that Hawaiʻi’s first Christian missionaries with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions or ABCFM received money from the 1819 Indian Civilization Act.
“This act was to build boarding schools to assimilate Native Americans and make them like white people,” Fujiyoshi said. “So if the ABCFM was taking money from the Indian Boarding School Civilization Act of 1819, how did the federal policy of this money affect the mission of the church in Hawaiʻi?”
Fujiyoshi authored a resolution to have the United Church of Christ investigate this matter. The resolution passed by more than 700 votes at the General Synod in Indianapolis this summer.
“What it does is to say you know the missionaries came and brought the gospel, but were they also bringing other kinds of values that weren’t in tune with the gospel like a superiority of being white? And how did that affect their mission?” Fujiyoshi said. “I think those questions through this study will become clearer. And if there’s any amends to be done, then let the church do it.”
Fujiyoshi said monetary reparations may be a possibility. But he said the greatest benefit of the resolution is raising awareness about the entire extent of the church’s role in Hawaiʻi’s history, and its impact on generations of communities like Laupāhoehoe.
