THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN HAWAI`I

The Episcopal Church in Hawai'i began in 1862 when King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma — a lifelong Anglican — invited the Church of England to Hawai‘i. The King and Queen supported the Church's establishment throughout the islands with gifts of land, and by founding St. Andrew's Cathedral in Honolulu. Queen Emma also founded Queen's Hospital (now Medical Center) and St. Andrew's Priory School for Girlsin Honolulu. The last Queen of Hawai'i, Queen Lili'uokalani, depended upon the spiritual support of the Episcopal Church during and following the overthrow of her reign in 1893. The Missionary District of Honolulu originally included the Hawaiian Islands, Guam, Okinawa, Taiwan and Kwajalein. It became the Diocese of Hawai'i in 1969 and now consists solely of the State of Hawai'i. The Diocese is made up of people who are native to Hawai'i and from everywhere else in the world who worship according to the Book of Common Prayer, 1979. Even though we are Episcopalians, our friends andother members of our families may worship as Roman Catholics, in a variety of Protestant faiths, as well as Buddhists, Shintoists, Mormons, Jews, Hindus and in traditional Hawaiian and other native ways. We hold our cultural and religious variety in respect. Worship in the Diocese fits the heritage, language and experience of the parishioners. Congregations in the Diocese have formed based on various ethnic groups, such as Hawaiian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese and Korean. The Eucharist is celebrated regularly in Hawaiian, complete with Hawaiian language hymns. The Diocese celebrates annually, King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma Day —the Feast of the Holy Sovereigns —on November 28.