Ho‘omana Na‘auao ‘O Hawai‘i, an organization that consists of a handful of Hawaiian churches, aims to preserve its independence, its own brand of Christianity and its deep cultural roots.

The organization’s name, which translates as "to worship God with wisdom," celebrated its 160th anniversary at a recent statewide convention held in Kakaako at its small mother church, Ke Alaula Oka Malamalama.

Ho‘omana is "the first independent Hawaiian Christian organization in the islands," said Kanoe Bright Cheek, who serves as secretary of Ho‘omana’s board of directors and is the granddaughter of the mother church’s pastor during the 1920s and ’30s, the Rev. Andrew Iaukea Bright.

Founded by the Rev. John H. Poloailehua on April 16, 1853, Ho‘omana once included eight churches on all islands but Kauai.

"We were founded by Hawaiians and are not affiliated with any other Christian organization. We did not originate with any missionary group. The name of our religion is Ho‘omana Na‘auao — we are Bible-based and believe in the Trinity. Our faith is also based in forgiveness and prayer," said Cheek, who also serves as property manager for five church properties, though the Maui chapter no longer has its own building.

Ho‘omana has about 500 members, most of them Hawaiian, Cheek said. She added, "At our church, no one is paid. Every position at every property is voluntary, including our ministers."

PURELY HAWAIIAN HYMNS

Ho‘omana’s wealthy first president, John Kekipi, funded the construction of churches that could be run by Hawaiians and where Hawaiian culture would be respected, she said.

"During the times when Hawaiians were told not to speak Hawaiian, the churches gave the people a sanctuary to not only worship their Christian God freely but also to speak their mother tongue. Our services are still held in Hawaiian as ­well as some English," Cheek said.

Another significant legacy of Ho‘omana is its music and the multitude of talented entertainers who once sang in the organization’s choir (among them Sol K. Bright of "Hawaiian Cowboy" fame). Members, many of whom have died, wrote more than 100 songs in Hawaiian for the church’s hymn book. The songs are now part of a curriculum at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, Cheek said.

Kalena Silva, a professor of Hawaiian studies at UH-Hilo since the mid-1980s, said in an email, "The hymn singing tradition of the church is as unique and fascinating as its history.Their hymnal, Momi Nani Oka ("Exquisite Pearls of") Ho‘omana Na‘auao ‘O Hawai‘i, contains hymn texts composed by church members and found exclusively among them (and not in ‘mainstream’ Hawaiian churches)," such as Kawaiaha‘o and Kaumakapili churches.

"A distinguishing feature of the Momi Nani hymn texts is that the majority were originally composed in Hawaiian and are not translations from English, as are many hymn texts in other more ‘mainstream’ hymnals … Momi Nani hymn texts reflect a distinctly Hawaiian world view and composition style," Silva wrote.

STEADFAST RESIDENT

Many of Ho‘omana’s members are of royal lineage from the line of Kamehameha I. Cheek said her grandfather "was also one of the first presidents of the Royal Order of Kamehameha in the early 1900s, with Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole." Church elders used to talk proudly of the time deposed Queen Liliuokalani would occasionally attend services, and the back row was raised higher than the other benches for her, she said.

Ho‘omana’s mother church, Ke Alaula Oka Malamalama, which translates as "rays of the morning sun," was constructed in 1897 at 910 Cooke St. on what was formerly called Kanoa Lane in a residential district. It was rebuilt on the 6,907-square-foot plot in 1970, and later rezoned commercial. Today, Ke Alaula is a throwback to another era, dwarfed by area car dealerships and high-rises.

Cheek, 60, grew up in the large family home that used to sit on the property, on the tiny block between King Street and Kapiolani Boulevard.

"I have gone through (and survived) many stages of the Kakaako redevelopment," she said.

Although the church is on a coveted slice of real estate, its leaders assert that the property will never be sold or even leased. The Rev. Joseph Recca, an assistant pastor, said over the years, when businessmen have expressed interest buying the property to build high-rises, "We always told them: Not at all."

Cheek and Recca still remember long-gone landmarks of the neighborhood: the former Von-Hamm Young warehouse across the street, the Hawaii Hotel, Bowling City, the Primo Brewery and Eki Cyclery as landmarks. Even the mango and coconut trees they used to climb are gone, along with the small houses on the street.

PRESERVING CULTURE

Recca and Cheek are dismayed that historical and newspaper accounts of the organization have inaccurately portrayed Ho‘omana’s doctrines, and most often the meaning of its name. Using a literal translation of "ho‘omana na‘auao" in a Bible verse, its name has been erroneously interpreted as "the church of reasonable services."

"No one ever asked us what our name means" and the error has been repeated decade after decade, Cheek said. Ho‘omana members prefer the interpretation "to worship God with wisdom" from Romans 12:1, the verse on which Ho‘omana was founded. In the New International Version, it reads: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship."

In other churches established by missionaries (including the first on Oahu, Kawaiaha‘o Church in 1842), Hawaiian customs were discouraged in favor of speaking English and learning Western ways, Cheek said. The language was banned by the government in the public schools in 1896 shortly after the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown, but even before that, children were chastised for speaking Hawaiian even in the home, Cheek said, citing her father as an example.

"My dad was the youngest of 14 kids, and when he was going to school, they started doing away with Hawaiian" and chastising students if they didn’t speak English, she said. While the eldest 10 siblings spoke Hawaiian fluently, Cheek said, "he was never fluent."