Father Alapaki Kim, left, pastor of St. Rita Parish, Nanakuli, stands in front of his church June 19 with Sebastian Lopez, coordinator of the parish’s upcoming 90th anniversary celebration.
The hand-me-down church on Hawaiian Homestead land celebrates its 90th anniversary
By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
A gust of wind produces a swirl of pink tissue-thin blossoms from one of the trees fronting St. Rita Church in Nanakuli, Oahu. The trees beautifying the parish property, including two mango and a landmark banyan, stand sturdy and strong. The buildings in their shade, not so much.
A stroll through the church grounds reveals a weathered assortment of hand-me-down facilities. There’s a World War II-era Quonset hut that houses the parish food pantry; four used portable trailers parked to “temporarily” replace a parish hall, itself a former army barracks, that burned down 30 years ago; an abandoned former rectory, warped and leaning, contaminated with black mold, asbestos and rats.
Then there’s the church. It’s not second-hand. It’s third-hand.
The parish Quonset hut that houses the food pantry
The parish is celebrating its 90th anniversary this weekend with a luau. The event will help raise some of the funds needed to build a firm future on a new foundation, as the parish is poised to step into phase three of a five-phase building plan.
There are high hopes and big goals for a proud parish whose initial existence seemed to be an afterthought.
As the story goes, Bishop Stephen Alencastre was traveling by Oahu Railroad in June of 1928 with hundreds of Oahu Catholics on their way up the leeward coast to dedicate the new Sacred Heart Church in Waianae when the train stopped at the Nanakuli Depot to refill the steam engine’s water tank.
According to a website account written by the present pastor, Father Alapaki Kim, the bishop “was approached at the very back of the train by several native Hawaiians” who asked if he would build a church in Nanakuli, which is about seven miles distant from Sacred Heart.
The parish trailer facilities.
Father Kim told the Hawaii Catholic Herald June 19 that he believes Mass was celebrated that year in Nanakuli, thus establishing it as a mission outpost 90 years ago. The rural community, however, would have to wait a few more years before it got its own church.
According to Father Kim, when the Nanakuli Hawaiian Homestead opened lots in 1931, homesteaders petitioned the Hawaiian Homes Commission for properties for churches. The results were a Catholic church in honor of St. Rita of Cascia, Nanaikapono Protestant Church and a Mormon church.
The original St. Rita church building began as a chapel at Schofield Barracks in central Oahu. The structure was first moved to Ewa to be used as Immaculate Conception Church. When the Ewa parish built its own church in 1930, the building was moved a second time in 1934 to its present Nanakuli homestead site.
In 1955, the church was expanded and twin bell towers added.
Bishop James J. Sweeney established St. Rita as a mission of Sacred Heart Parish in 1942 and elevated it to parish status in 1965.
St. Rita is one of two Catholic churches built on Hawaiian Homelands, originally to serve native Hawaiians. The other is Malia Puka O Kalani in Keaukaha on the Big Island. Both churches now serve their greater neighborhood communities.
Five-phase building plan
The building fundraising “thermometer”
St. Rita’s present building plans have extended over decades. Phase one, the parking lot, was completed in 2002 following 20 years of planning and permitting. In phase two, the parish moved its pastor, who is 65, from his rat-infested rectory to a new house down the road in the Sea Country neighborhood.
Phase three is next — an 80-foot by 80-foot multipurpose building, the walls of which will open up to seat a maximum of 450. The building, which will replace the Quonset hut and portable trailers, will hold six classrooms, a food pantry and a warming kitchen. Its completion date is 2019.
Phase four is the church.
The church’s boxy front, a familiar Nanakuli image, will be the only part of all the existing structures that will be saved. Its twin bell towers, one on each side of the church is unique among island churches.
The rest of the church will be torn down and rebuilt much bigger, reoriented in the shape of a cross. The footprint of the present church will be the church’s “crossbeam” and its familiar façade will be the end of the cross’ left arm.
The new church will hold 450 people, more than double the capacity of the present church.
The new St. Rita will need the extra space.
Despite its lowly facilities, the church, Nanakuli’s largest with 300 registered families, buzzes as a community hub.
Between 350 and 400 attend the four weekend Masses.
The parish food pantry, open Monday, Wednesday and Friday, serves about 130 families a week with food donated by parishioners or bought by the parish.
The architect’s drawing of the planned parish structures: left, the parish office building; center, the cruciform church; right, the multipurpose building
On the last Thursday of the month, a potluck dinner serves as many as 200 complete hot dinners to the homeless, many of whom live on the beaches across the street. It is a vital ministry which includes volunteers from other neighborhood churches and groups.
“Lots of the parishioners know the homeless personally,” said Father Kim.
The parish also hosts hula classes, Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings, Bible study and psychiatric counseling sponsored by Catholic Charities Hawaii.
On the first weekend of the month, Masses are bilingual — in Hawaiian and English.
Most of the main Mass prayers and hymns are in Hawaiian. The Scripture readings are delivered in both Hawaiian and English using available translations, both Protestant and Catholic.
The religious education director is fluent in Hawaiian and is working on translating the lessons, Father Kim said.
“A large number of people speak Hawaiian,” he said.
The nearby upscale hotels— the Four Seasons, the Aulani and the Marriot — also supply a regular flow of Mass-going tourists. And more resorts are planned.
New housing developments nearby promise hundreds of new parishioners.
The final phase five is the parish office. The parish has already spent $1 million on the first two phases and has $800,000 in the bank. With local help, Father Kim hopes to keep the remaining costs to $5 million, although a parish handout estimates the price of the final phases at more than $8 million.
Sebastian Lopez, the chief organizer of the anniversary celebration is planning a luau for more than 350 guests, 6-10 p.m., June 30, with a ton of prizes. He is also producing an anniversary book to be published after the event.
