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On Faith
Bob Sigall
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Landmarks offer glimpse into history
Religion has played an important role in Hawaii's history. Some of Oahu's landmarks are tied to its religious history. You might pass these temples and churches every day, but do you know their stories? Here's a test. Answers will be published next Saturday.
1. This building is a replica of the Kochi Castle in Japan. When some members resisted a castle design, the Rev. Takie Okumura reminded them that the Old Testament says, "God is my fortress."
2. Father Damien DeVeuster was ordained at this downtown church, the oldest continuously used church in the United States. It was built in 1842.
3. Referred to as the "Westminster Abbey of the Pacific," this was the site of King Kamehameha IV's coronation, as well as his wedding to Queen Emma. Here, in 1843, Kamehameha III uttered the phrase that would become Hawaii's official motto: "Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono" ("the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness").
4. This church was formed in 1923 as Hawaii's first interracial congregation by students from McKinley High School and Mid-Pacific Institute.
5. Honolulu's second Christian church was built in 1838 on the corner of Smith and Beretania streets in Chinatown. It accommodated 2,500 people and was used at times as Honolulu's town hall. It burned down in the great Chinatown fire. What is its name and where was it rebuilt?
6. Queen Emma named this church because her husband, King Kamehameha IV, died on the feast day of Christ's first disciple. His cross appears on Hawaii's flag.
7. Samuel C. Damon built the Seaman's Bethel chapel near the waterfront in 1843. It moved to what is now the state Capitol grounds and then to Ben F. Dillingham's estate "Woodlawn." What is its name today?
8. Its name means the "the Temple of Amida's Universal Vow." It was built in 1898 on Fort Street and later moved to its current location.
9. Catholic nuns from Syracuse, N.Y., came to Hawaii in 1883 to help care for the victims of leprosy. Their legacy included this hospital named for the founder of their religious order.
10. Now located near the Puna coast town of Pahoa, south of Hilo, this church originally was built in the town of Kalapana. After it was threatened by a series of lava flows, it was moved. The small structure with a white steeple contains bright-colored religious frescoes painted in 1929.
11. The school founded in 1865 in the basement of the Fort Street Church is now the oldest public high school in the state. It was once called Honolulu High School. What is its name today?
12. What makes Mokuaikaua Church in Kailua-Kona special?
13. This Kalihi Valley church was the center of Portuguese life on Oahu 100 years ago and played an important role in preserving the heritage brought by immigrants from the island of Madeira.
14. During the persecution of Catholics in Hawaii in the mid-1800s, many Hawaiians fled from Honolulu over the Pali trail, settled in Windward Oahu and founded this church.
15. Organized in 1879 for a particular ethnic group, this church moved from Fort Street to Makiki to its present King Street site. In 1892 the congregation created the first boarding school for boys, Mill's Institute. It later combined with Kawaiahao School for Girls to form Mid-Pacific Institute.
16. This gender-specific school was started at Central Union Church in 1964. It was moved five years later onto Lowell Dillingham's Diamond Head estate.
Bob Sigall is the author of "The Companies We Keep: Amazing Stories About 450 of Hawaii's Best-Known Companies," which includes the stories of island schools, churches and temples.