19th-century state church of the Kingdom of Hawai?i
The
Church of Hawai?i
, originally called the
Hawaiian Reformed Catholic Church
, was the
state church
and
national church
of the
Kingdom of Hawai?i
from 1862 to 1893. It was the
ecclesiastical province
of the
Anglican Communion
in
Hawai?i
, which later merged into the
American Episcopal Church
during the establishment of the
Republic of Hawaii
.
History
[
edit
]
As a young prince, King
Kamehameha IV
had visited
England
and was impressed by the rich ceremony of the
Church of England
, compared to the dour simplicity of the American missionaries who educated him as a child. His
queen consort
Queen Emma
had a British grandfather and was brought up in a house of a British Anglican doctor. Their 1856 wedding ceremony included Anglican prayers but had to be performed by the
Congregationalist
minister.
In 1859, Emma wrote to
Victoria of the United Kingdom
to request a clergyman from the English church. The King's foreign minister,
Robert Crichton Wyllie
, also made requests through diplomatic contacts. In 1860,
Samuel Wilberforce
suggested expanding the mission to include a
bishop
who could organize a new branch.
William Ingraham Kip
of the
Episcopal Church
in
California
also supported the idea, but the
American Civil War
prevented any help from them.
[1]
The idea was approved by
John Bird Sumner
and British Foreign Secretary
Lord John Russell
. The first Bishop was
Thomas Nettleship Staley
, consecrated on December 15, 1861.
[2]
The sending of Staley caused friction with the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
even before he arrived in 1862; making him a bishop concerned the Congregationalists, who opposed any kind of religious hierarchy.
Rufus Anderson
, of the American Board, became a fierce critic, accusing him of
ritualism
. The officially chartered name of "Hawaiian Reformed Catholic Church" provoked criticism as "
papist
". After Kamehameha IV died, an elaborate funeral service was held which was compared to a
Pontifical High Mass
.
[1]
Staley was even attacked by American writer
Mark Twain
, and others whom he called "
Puritans
".
[1]
Cornerstone of
St. Andrew's Cathedral
laid in 1867
The Church of Hawai?i became the official royal church, with land donated from the royal family's holdings, not the government. Emma was baptized, followed by a young
David Kal?kaua
who would later also become king. The
Royal Mausoleum
was built with a private chapel, which contrasted to the simple unadorned graveyards preferred by earlier missionaries. Observance of the holidays of
Christmas
and
Good Friday
was begun. Since Kamehameha IV had died on the feast of
Saint Andrew
, the first cathedral constructed in Hawai?i by his brother the new King
Kamehameha V
was called the
Saint Andrew's Cathedral
. The cornerstone was laid in 1867, and it became the official residence of the bishop. Two associated schools were also started:
Saint Andrew's Priory School for Girls
, and a boys' school named for
Saint Alban
, which eventually became part of ?
Iolani School
.
After the
overthrow of the monarchy
in 1893 and
United States
annexation
in 1898, the Church of Hawai?i was dissolved and became the
Episcopal Diocese of Hawai?i
as territorial jurisdiction was transferred to the
Episcopal Church in the United States of America
.
[3]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
Robert Louis Semes (2000). "Hawai'i's Holy War: English Bishop Staley, American Congregationalists, and the Hawaiian Monarchs, 1860 - 1870".
Hawaiian Journal of History
. Vol. 34. Hawaii Historical Society. pp. 113?95.
hdl
:
10524/159
.
- ^
Staley, Thomas N (1868).
Five Years' Church Work in the Kingdom of Hawaii
. London, Oxford and Cambridge: Rivington's.
- ^
"History"
. Episcopal Diocese of Hawai'i. Archived from
the original
on 2007-09-28
. Retrieved
2007-02-11
.
External links
[
edit
]
Christianity in Hawaii
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Christian groups
in Hawaii
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Historic chapels
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Missionaries
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Native Christians
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Related articles
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