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Makiki Christian Church: A Concise Historyby Frank Murakami
For an indepth look at Makiki Christian Church's history, view our PDF web publication IntroductionIn 1885, the first Japanese contract immigrants to Hawaii arrived in response to the high demand for laborers created by the rise of the island sugar industry.(1)
Some 29,069 Japanese were brought to Hawaii between 1885-1894 on 26 ships.(2) Up to 1924, when the U.S. Congress passed the Japanese Exclusion Law, the Japanese who came to Hawaii totaled 213,752, of which 159,288 were men, 49,612 women (including "picture brides"), and 4,852 children.(3) They were the major source of labor for the sugar plantations for many decades. The Hawaiian plantations became a Japanese frontier—a new way of life for many.(4) The immigration of workers for the sugar plantations and the subsequent settlement of many in locations and work outside the plantations presented the Hawaiian Board (forerunner of the Hawaii Conference, United Church of Christ) with new opportunities for evangelism. Worker groups of Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese, and later Filipinos, came in large numbers. Our BeginningsIt was 95 years ago on April 8, 1904, that Rev. Takie Okumura, together with his assistant, Kametaro Maeda, and 24 believers founded and organized Makiki Christian Church. Okumura had arrived in Hawaii from Japan ten years earlier in July 1894 at the age of 29 to work for the Hawaiian Evangelical Association, more commonly known as the Hawaiian Board (forerunner of the Hawaii Conference, United Church of Christ) under a three-year contract. He was to work among the early Japanese immigrants who had come to the Hawaiian kingdom. He served for a year as assistant pastor of Honolulu Japanese Church, then became the pastor, succeeding Rev. Jiro Okabe. In seven years under his ministry, membership increased from 93 to 306 and the church became financially independent. By 1903, this church was called Nuuanu Japanese Congregational Church. Not content to minister in a "secure environment," Rev. Okumura was called to do mission work. In November 1902, he "launched out" for the Hawaiian Board in a "new field" including the Makiki, Manoa, Kairnuki and Waikiki districts of Honolulu. His early meetings were held in a shed on Kinau Street near Piikoi Street which could hold 36 chairs. In 1903 a little cottage across the street which could hold up to 80 persons was rented to accommodate the increasing numbers of seekers. It was here in this cottage that Makiki Christian Church was organized on April 8, 1904, thereby joining a family of more than 100 Congregational churches in Hawaii (now the Hawaii Conference of the United Church of Christ).
The cottage on Kinau Street housing the newly organized church was soon bursting at the seams with activity. Records show that on August 4, 1905, a proposal to acquire the lot at the mauka-Koko Head corner of Kinau and Pensacola Streets was made. A friend and philanthropist, George P. Castle, paid for the 10,000-square-foot lot. A new church building with a 400-person capacity was built on it and the first service in it was held in September 1905. The first ten years of Makiki were years of activity and growth. By 1914, Makiki had become self-supporting and its membership soared. The Growing ChurchAll the services and activities at Makiki Christian Church were conducted in the language of the immigrants—Japanese. But in time, the Hawaii-born offspring of these immigrants began attending Sunday School. To work with and to meet the needs of children who came in increasing numbers, Caucasian Christians were made Sunday School superintendents, like Dr. Frank Scudder and William Pietsch. By 1918, the Sunday School had established branches in Moiliili, Manoa and Waikiki. About the same time, a junior church was organized to meet the growing attendance of second- and third-generation children of the immigrants. This group formed the core of the English-speaking congregation. As a result, the sermons were given in English. For the increasing number of little children in the area, a much-needed branch kindergarten was built and started in 1924 in the Pawaa district. When Makiki celebrated its 25th anniversary on April 8, 1929, members made plans for building a larger church to accommodate the increasing numbers of worshipers. A new site was acquired in 1930 some six blocks makai, at 829 Pensacola Street, for $40,000. This purchase was made in the midst of the Great Depression (months after the stock market had crashed in October 1929). Conventional wisdom dictated that times were not favorable for construction projects requiring sums of money. But Okumura had "unbounded faith in God"(6) and plans were made to build a church in the form of a Japanese castle, patterned somewhat like Kochi Castle in his hometown of Kochi in Shikoku. Although his proposal met with skepticism at first from some Hawaiian Board members, he was able to convince the Board and gained unanimous approval to proceed with his project. In spite of the Great Depression, a fund drive was successfully conducted and construction was completed for dedication on November 6, 1932. More importantly, on the following Sunday, some 143 new members were dedicated to the Lord. Four years later (1936), the adjoining social hall was completed with additional funds from a second campaign. Okumura retired the following year (1937) as pastor emeritus. Succeeding pastors for the Japanese-speaking congregation are listed as follows:
The Japanese-speaking congregation experienced new life and growth in the 1970's when younger-aged persons began worshiping and participating in its activities in the midst of a slow decline in the number of older members. Some eight Japanese-speaking PanAm stewardesses stationed in Honolulu began Bible study and attended worship; four of them eventually joined the church. In addition, young Japanese-speaking families as well as students from Japan who were attending local schools began to take part in activities. The Rev. Philip K. Tsuchiya who arrived in August 1975 took note of the situation and made changes to encourage personal devotions and Bible study as well as fellowship opportunities among worshipers. Monthly koinonia meetings were held in believer's homes and prayer meetings were well-attended. Period of TransitionOver one-fourth of the 143 new members dedicated to the Lord on November 13,. 1932 were from the 'English-speaking congregation. More English-speaking persons came to Makiki after the social hall was built four years later.
In 1945, Peter McKnight was appointed licentiate preacher. He was the first pastor assigned to work solely with the growing English-speaking congregation. The following year, Rev. Paul Morimoto was called as the first associate pastor to work mainly with the English-speaking congregation. The complete listing of pastors for the English-speaking congregation is as follows:
When Makiki became 50 years old, the English-speaking congregation had already surpassed in size the Japanese-speaking congregation, in 1957, after serving three years as associate pastor, Rev. Paul Nagano became the pastor, and Rev. Makino of the issei congregation became the associate pastor. The torch of leadership was passed from the older to the younger generation. Years of New Growth and ExpansionThe worship attendance and membership of the English-speaking congregation increased by leaps and bounds. This had its start in 1954 when year-round annual visitations were made by teams of members. In 1955, Rev. William Y. Tamagi was called from Canada as assistant pastor to help in meeting the needs of this growing membership. Regular radio broadcasts of our Sunday morning worship service and two other weekly Makiki programs were started on radio station KAIM in 1956. This growth was evidenced in 1956 when a total of 163 members joined the church in one year. A laymen seminary started in 1957 for discipling the new members. There was a great influx of youth into the Sunday School (1958 average attendance: 590) and in youth activities. This necessitated the calling of Rev. Richard Nishioka to serve as minister of Christian education beginning in 1958. An unprecedented 1,582 worshipers attended three identical services on Easter Sunday 1958. Out of sheer necessity a fund drive was begun for a Christian Education building for the Sunday School and for discipling the many newly-received members. The C.E. Building was completed and dedicated on November 20, 1960. In the midst of all this activity in 1956, a faithful and caring laywoman, Gladys Kiyota, found time to go to the aid of a distraught Kailua mother whose son had just killed a Marine. Gladys brought support and encouragement through prayers and Bible study. For a short time, a group of neighbors and friends met in a home regularly. When the group became large, the Kailua branch mission was born, which eventually became Kailua Christian Church. Gospel teams had opportunity to visit churches in Maui and California. Developing Community Awareness and OutreachRev. Dr. Chester Terpstra returned to serve at Makiki in 1963 until 1969. During his ministry, he made the congregation more aware of the needs of the community around us. He was instrumental in the formation of the Central Honolulu Community Association, encompassing the Makiki, Sheridan Tract and Kakaako districts. Through studies and meetings, he sought to heighten our awareness as to ways in which the church could participate and contribute to the well-being of our community. Makiki Christian Preschool opened its doors on January 15, 1965, to 15 children with Eiko Hew Len as teacher and Margery Terpstra as director. Its mission is to provide a service to the community while being a witness for the church. It has opened for 36 continuous years of service. The Makiki Christian Counseling Center started in August 1967 with Dr. Doman Lum, director, to be an extension of pastoral care and healing ministry of the church. Dr. Margery Terpstra succeeded Doman in 1972, serving without compensation. Rev. Ted Ogoshi began his tenure in 1969 and served until 1989, while Rev. Philip Mark became youth pastor (1973-86), and Reg Bradley served as youth ministries coordinator (1970-72). Ogoshi emphasized the importance of koinonia in its many different shapes and the use of small groups in communicating and teaching God's grace. Covenant Life groups were formed and began holding meetings. Community missions included hunger awareness, child abuse, and elderly care programs. The 75th anniversary was celebrated throughout the whole year 1979 and included a 72-hour prayer vigil, Holy Land tour, mochi-tsuki, roots week and oral history and a mission conference. Meetings in Hawaii Kai area were begun at the Henry Satos' in July 1983 which resulted in the Hawaii Kai branch mission (forerunner of Hawaii Kai United Church of Christ) with Rev. Phil Mark as the founding pastor. Rev. Saku Kuroda became Nichigobu pastor in April 1983. The very successful elderly ministry also had its start in 1983 with Eiko Soranaka as coordinator. Dr. Chet Terpstra assumed the interim pastorship after Pastor Ogoshi retired in May 1989. He was responsible for starting the successful restoration and preservation fund drive that brought to fruition the R & P project. The tenure of Rev. Michael Angevine helped us to develop compassion in a very personal way because of his own condition (liver transplantation and its related problems). In the same year that Rev. Okurnura retired (1937), Makiki commissioned and sent out its first home-grown missionary overseas. Julia Motoyama went to Japan after she had completed her Bible training at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois. She had to return to Hawaii a few years later when the war clouds began to appear and served as "Bible Woman" at Makiki Christian Church during World War II. After the war was over, she again returned to Japan (1947) to resume her missionary work in the Kyoto and Osaka areas. By the time she retired from her work there some 50 years later under the Fukuin Koyu Kai (formerly known as the Japan Gospel Fellowship), she had participated in the formation of some 13 churches, still thriving to this day. It is worth noting that both Nichigobu Pastor Saku Kuroda and Pastor Yoshitaka Fujinami are products of churches that Julia Motoyama had a hand in birthing. Other home-grown missionaries have followed in the train that Julia pioneered:
New Beginnings: A New CreationThe coming of Rev. Wayne lbara in 1995 has signaled a new beginning in the life of Makiki. Major focus on discipling, in experiencing God, and returning to Scripture to help us corporately discern more clearly God's plan for our church and for our own lives has made us look at our church and the Scriptures from a more sensitive perspective. Course offerings during Discipleship Hour are enabling a larger circle of members to participate in this process, which is all to the good. With God's blessing on our endeavors, there is an air of unbounded optimism that the best years for Makiki are in the years ahead, God willing. Teaming with Rev. Howard Yoshida adds strength to the church's efforts. A word must also be said for the fine work of Pastor Yoshitaka Fujinami, And a final word about the music ministry in enhancing and helping us focus on worship during the services. So let us press on!
The Rev. Dr. Theodore T. Ogoshi Memorial Archives 1994The Archives Committee oversees the collection and preservation of materials dating back to Makiki Christian Church's beginnings with The Rev. Takie Okumura. The items kept include past sermons and correspondence as well as an extensive collection of vintage photographs chronicling Makiki Christian Church's congregational and community life. Members are welcome to visit the archives every Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to noon. |
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Makiki Christian Church • 829 Pensacola Street • Honolulu. HI 96814 |
