Pukaʻana Church | Our Denomination

United Church of Christ

Pukaʻana Congregational Church, is an independently organized church in the State of Hawaiʻi, and, is a local church of the United Church of Christ, as defined by Article V of the UCC Constitution and Bylaws. Our congregation traces the history of its relationship with the UCC to the very introduction of Christianity in the Hawaiian Islands by the first missionaries in 1820.

Our church is committed to being part of the UCC, and is actively involved in the work and mission of the United Church of Christ at all levels, from our local church to the national setting.

United in Christ's love,

a just world for all.

When a young Hawaiian by the name of Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia sailed to New England, even he did not know the impact he would have on Christianity in Hawai’i. While in the United States, after making the decision to become a Christian, he begged his teachers to send missionaries back to the Hawaiian Islands.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia died before he could see his wishes become reality, but in 1819 the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions for the Congregational Churches (predecessor denomination of the United Church of Christ) sent its first missionaries to Hawaii. King Kamehameha II charged them “…to aim at making people of every class wise and good and happy.”

Following their arrival in Kailua Kona, the first missionaries began to hold worship services. More missionaries came and in 1823 the Hawaiian Association of Ministers and Churches was formed. This organization became known as the Hawaiian Evangelical Association (HEA) in 1853.

In 1957 two churches, the Congregational Christian Church and the Evangelical and Reformed Church, merged to form the United Church of Christ. The UCC is thus one of the youngest protestant denominations in the United States, yet its roots reach back to the 16th century.

In 1959, the year Hawai’i became a state, HEA voted to join the United Church of Christ. HEA later became known as the Hawaiʻi Conference United Church of Christ (HCUCC).

For more information on the UCC's national setting, or the Hawaiʻi Conference, click the links below:

Membership in the United Church of Christ, is by virtue of membership in a Conference, and an Association of the UCC.

Our church is a member of the Hawaiʻi Conference UCC, the successor to the Hawaiian Evangelical Association, and the Hawaiʻi Island Association (HIA).

In addition, our church is a member of the State Council of Hawaiian Congregational Churches, founded in 1948 to advocate for, and be the voice of, the Hawaiian congregational churches in Hawaiʻi.

The Hawaiʻi Conference Foundation is the investment and property management arm of the Conference and supports its ministries as the faithful steward of its assets.