Kawaiahao Church

Kawaiahaʻo Church, on Punchbowl Street in Honolulu, calls itself the national house of prayer, and it was established under Kuhina Nui (Queen-Regent) Kaʻahumanu I. Its coral church was built of coral blocks mined from the reef and brought by canoe by early Native Hawaiian converts, and it has been called the Hale Pule Lāhui, the Great Stone Church and the Westminster Abbey of the Pacific. The name Kawaiahaʻo means the water of Haʻo, after a sacred spring on the church grounds. It was the principal national church of the Hawaiian Kingdom, where aliʻi were baptized, married, worshiped and lay in state, and a majority of Hawaiʻi's rulers took their constitutional oath of office here. On its front steps, King Kamehameha III spoke the words that are now part of the state motto. King Lunalilo, who wished to be buried among his people here rather than in the Royal Mausoleum, rests in a tomb to the right of the entrance. The Kauikeaouli clock, donated by King Kamehameha III, still tolls the hours, and portraits of the royal family hang on the second floor. The church and its grounds are a National Historic Landmark. Kawaiahaʻo is a Hawaiian Congregationalist church of the United Church of Christ, with an in-person traditional Hawaiian worship service every Sunday morning and an online worship service on Sunday mornings. A self-guided audio walk around the campus works by scanning QR codes with your smartphone camera. The church says all are welcomed in faith and in aloha.