Nu'uanu Baptist Celebrates 80 Years of Ministry

Nu'uanu Baptist Celebrated 80 Years of Ministry on Saturday, April 22, 2023.

A Celebration

The celebration, held at the Hale Ikena, Fort Shafter Army Base, included current and former church members, pastors, members of churches that Nu'uanu started, and leaders from the Hawaii Baptist Academy and the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention. The program included music, hula, recognition of long-time members, and a reading of the church's history.

Nu'uanu's Beginning

Nu’uanu Baptist Church was started by three Foreign Mission Board missionaries displaced from their work in China during World War II. As Nu’uanu Baptist experienced growth, Pastor Malcolm Stuart scoured the neighborhood to acquire a property using Foreign Mission Board funds. Eventually, he located the property at Nu’uanu Avenue and Bates Street. During the war, construction was restricted, so a large tent was set up instead. Olivet Baptist Church assisted in organizing a Vacation Bible School right away.

The Start of a Building Fund

The first three pastors, Dr. Stuart, H.B. Ramsour, and J.H. Ware, were Foreign Mission Board appointees. In the early days of the church, many military personnel attended and provided adult guidance and financial support to what was largely a ministry to children and teenagers. One Sunday, twenty sailors came forward and gave $100 each to start the building fund that led to the construction of our sanctuary, dedicated in 1946.

In 1949, the Building Fund received a $20,000 grant from the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. This grant was utilized to construct an attachment to accommodate the Fellowship Hall and Sunday School classes. Later that year, Nu'uanu acquired the adjacent lot and constructed a two-story education building named after Pastor James H. Ware. This building also accommodated the Japanese language division, initially led by Pastor Fujita and later by George Watanabe. The original house on the lot was utilized as a nursery, then a parsonage, and eventually as a youth house before it was demolished.

First Non-missionary Pastor Called

In 1961, Nu'uanu called their first non-missionary pastor, James Harley, followed by Delmer Allen, Joe Sanders, Rick Lazor, Jerry Corbaley, and Bob Gierhart (their current senior pastor).

In 1977, James Wong brought his family from Hong Kong to work in Hawaii, and Pastor Joe Sanders led the church to hire Pastor Wong to begin the first Baptist Chinese ministry in Hawaii. Subsequent pastors include Paul Li, Jones Lo, and Andrew Tong. Under Pastor Andrew Tong’s leadership, the Chinese Division constituted as a church in 2004 and soon after purchased and renovated its property on King Street.

In 1997, Nu’uanu members Joel and Eileen Yuen’s work with children at Kapiolani Hospital led to a ministry with Chuukese immigrants and formed a congregation that met at Nu’uanu. During those years, they often had joint worship services in English, Japanese, Chinese, and Chuukese.

New Churches Started

Nu’uanu started the following churches: Kalihi Baptist Church, First Baptist Church of Pearl City, Pali View Baptist Church, and Halawa Heights Baptist Church. They cosponsored two churches on the Big Island and two churches in Western and American Samoa in partnership with First Baptist Church of Pearl City.

Missions and Educational Programs

Nu'uanu Baptist provided missions education through programs such as Royal Ambassadors, Girls in Action, Acteens, Children in Action, and Children’s Bible Drill. These programs were instrumental in teaching their children how to pray for, give to, and go on mission. Nu'uanu Woman's Missionary Union (WMU) was among the four original groups that formed the first state WMU council in 1952.

Nu’uanu sent mission teams to South Carolina, Tennessee, Connecticut, Mexico, Thailand, Lanai, the Big Island, Nebraska, Los Angeles, Arkansas, the Gulf Coast, the Middle East, China, and Japan. Nu’uanu was also one of the first churches to join the work of the Good News Mission at Oahu Community Correctional Center and support the River of Life mission.

The Church's Future

When Pastor Bob Gierhart answered the call to serve, the church mainly saw gray hair in our congregation. They prayed for an infusion of youth and children. God answered that prayer with the calling of Pastors Chris Morales and Johnny Hom and the many young adults and families who have become our leaders and our future.

church members reminisce while viewing photos of the church's history