Historic stone church built in the 1800s featuring lava rock architecture and artifacts from the earliest Christian missionaries in Hawai‘i.
General Information
Closed on Federal and State holidays
Sunday services at 10am
Donations welcome
Free history talks offered most Sundays at 12:15pm
How to Get There
From Kona, HI (0.3 mi): Walk or drive north on Ali‘i Drive for a few blocks; the church is across from Hulihe‘e Palace in historic downtown Kailua-Kona.
Overview
Mokuaikaua Church in Kailua-Kona is the oldest Christian church in the Hawaiian Islands. The congregation dates to 1820, founded by Asa and Lucy Goodale Thurston of the first American missionary ship, the brig Thaddeus, and the current building was completed in 1837. It is on the National Register of Historic Places (added October 3, 1978), and the name moku ʻaikaua means “district acquired by war.”
What to See
- The stone building, partly built from stones recycled from a nearby heiau, with a Koa wood interior
- Artifacts on display, including a scale model of the Thaddeus
- Open to the public for tours; the church remains in active use
The first structure on the site was made of ʻōhiʻa wood with a thatched roof, on land from Royal Governor Kuakini across the street from his Huliheʻe Palace. After several fires, the present structure was built from about 1835 to 1837.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mokuaikaua Church", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
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