A luncheon on Saturday marked the completion of a year of centennial events for the All Saints Episcopal Church in Kapaa.
House Speaker Nadine Nakamura, presenting a Hawaii State Legislature congratulatory certificate celebrating the centennial, said that when she and her family moved here 33 years ago, she joined the church.
“That was the best thing I have done,” Nakamura said. “They were there for me and my family. They’ve been with us through the good times, and bad.”
The Legislature commended the Kapaa church on the culmination of its year-long 100th anniversary of serving the community, and honored the church for making significant contributions to the spiritual and cultural fabric of Kauai.
Throughout the years, All Saints Episcopal Church has hosted dodgeball tournaments, movie nights and craft fairs for the community, accomplishing its goal of being a gathering place the people of Kauai, a center for worship, education, outreach and the arts, the certificate said. The All Saints Episcopal Church has played an essential role in fostering unity and spiritual growth, and the Legislature honored its cultural heritage while looking toward a future filled with hope and harmony.
“I like this church because it respects the Hawaiian culture,” said retired Judge Bill Fernandez who provided the oli for the day.
According to the history in the legislative certificate, the Episcopal Church in Hawaii started in 1862 when King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma invited the Church of England to Hawaii. The king and queen supported the church’s establishment throughout the islands with gifts of land, and founded the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Honolulu.
The legislative document also stated that the history of All Saints’ Episcopal Church can be traced back to the arrival of the Rev. Henry Alpheus and Mrs. Juelle J. Willey on Kauai on Oct. 28, 1924. The All Saints’ Episcopal Church was founded as a mission of the Episcopal Church, declaring itself an interracial church, and its name was selected by a vote of the congregation, becoming the first Anglican Church on Kauai.
While laboring under unfavorable circumstances in Kealia, the Rev. Willey succeeded in obtaining land and making plans for a church in Kapaa. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Digby Sloggett provided five acres of land that would house the church. In December 1945, the All Saints’ Episcopal Church was completed.
In 1962, the mission achieved parish status under the leadership of Ven. Charles T. Crane. In 2012, the diocese celebrated its sesquicentennial with the motto for the year-long event being “A Journey of Faith, a Promise of Hope.”
Source: The Garden Island
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