History:

Grace Church, Ho'olehua, Moloka'i has an interesting history which speaks of hard work and close cooperation on the part of interested laymen as well as clergy. For many years the only Episcopal services available to the people of Moloka'i were those held at Holy Cross Chapel at the Shingle Memorial Hospital at Ho'olehua, whenever clergy was available to visit. The Rev. J. Miller Horton and the Rev. E. Lani Hanchett made later monthly visits, each in turn vicar to the Church of the Holy Innocents, Lahaina, Maui.

It was under the leadership of Fr. Hanchett that the mission on Moloka'i was established. The first definite action taken was the formation of the "Moloka'i Episcopal Congregation" with the election of a Bishop's committee in January of 1953, with John Anderson as the first Bishop's warden. Services were held as usual at the hospital chapel.

In February of that year a Sunday school was opened in the Clubhouse of the California Packing Corporation, the pineapple plantation at Kualapuu, a few miles east of Ho'olehua. Eight children were present on the opening day. Within a few weeks the enrollment had risen to 20.

By May of 1953 the congregation had already begun serious planning for the building of its own church. A letter was sent to the Office of Hawaiian Homes Commission in Honolulu requesting a site on homestead property in Ho'olehua. On July 9, 1953, the Commission granted a license to the congregation to operate a church on a one-acre lot located next to the playing field on Farrington Avenue. Having obtained their lot, the next step was to look into the availability of building materials for the church. Mr. Raymond Ornellas, a member of the Bishop's committee, was appointed to head the building committee. Possibilities were seen for the purchase of one of the various surplus Army buildings located on the island following World War II. In September word was received from the manager of Maui County Airport that a large two-story building, located at the Ho'olehua Airport, was to be up for sale by public auction on the 29th of that month. Having heard earlier of its possible sale, the building committee of the congregation had already inspected the building and were very anxious to purchase it, as it contained sufficient lumber for their building needs. When the day of the auction came, many people appeared with the same purpose in mind, but through the skillful bidding of the Rev. E. Lani Hanchett, the building was sold to the Episcopal Congregation for $ 1,105.

Soon a local contractor was hired to tear down the old building and to build from the lumber a combined church and parish hall and a vicarage (originally three bedroom) for the priest and his family nearby. In early October, the lot was surveyed and the building process began. The church building was originally built as combination sanctuary and parish hall, 20 feet wide by 80 feet long, divided in the center by a removable panel wall. The church itself was designed to seat 50, but for special occasions the dividing wall was removed and the space doubled.

In late January 1954 the buildings were completed by the contractor. Now the congregation itself took over to put on the finishing touches. Before paint could be applied, cracks in the old lumber had to be filled and the old paint removed. Only a little over a month remained before the date which they had set for the dedication. Working feverishly during their spare time, the painting was completed and the last pews finished and waxed just in time.

Sunday, 7 March 1954 was a big day for this congregation. Our church was competed and Bishop Harry Kennedy arrived from Honolulu that morning for the dedication service. The church doors were opened, the dividing wall removed, and chairs set up in the extra space to accommodate over 200 people that day.

The first step was completed. How the people waited anxiously for their full-time vicar to arrive, W. Edwin Bonsey, Jr.. He was finishing his final year of seminary at Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California. He arrived as a newly ordained deacon on 15 August. The Sunday school was reopened in mid-September with an enrollment of 45 children and some new teachers added to the staff. In two months the enrollment grew to 60 and covered all grades from kindergarten through eighth. A nursery and an adults' class had been added and a family service to include more people. Inl ate October our name changed from "The Moloka'i Episcopal Congregation" to "Grace Episcopal Church." Membership at this date included about 40 adults as well as the Sunday school. Just before Christmas of 1954, on 17 December, Bishop Kennedy made his second visit to the mission. This time to ordain its vicar to the priesthood. Four other clergy came from Maui and Oahu for this the first Episcopal ordination on Moloka'i.