St. Christopher, The Parish Church of

Parish History

Beginnings:  St. Christopher’s Church celebrated its first worship service in Classroom 8, Kailua Elementary School, on April 22, 1945.   Mr. and Mrs. John Searle, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Ault, their children Shirley and Norman, Jr., and the Rev. William Arthur Roberts, vicar of Kahaluu’s St. John’s-by-the-sea mission, made up that first gathered congregation.

The first building on land donated by Harold S. Castle for the Church was a vicarage. Later, parishioners enlarged and converted the vicarage into a parish hall.  Two prefabricated Dallas huts were moved onto the acre of ironwood forest land to serve as the worship space. On November 18, 1945, Bishop Harry S. Kennedy dedicated the Church, naming it “St. Christopher’s Church in the Pines.”  An old building was donated by Leahi Hospital in Kaimuki and it was moved over tortuous mountains to Kailua by men of the parish to be used for classrooms.  A new house in the neighborhood was purchased to be a rectory. The original portion of the present Church was dedicated by Bishop Kennedy on May 15, 1949.  

The mission that began with five adults and two children grew to become the first and only Episcopal parish on the windward side of Oahu.  But, it has always had a close relationship with the four Windward Episcopal mission churches:  St. John’s-by-the-Sea, Kahaluu, had helped found St. Christopher’s; and St. Christopher’s in turn helped to establish St. Matthew’s in Waimanalo, Calvary in Kaneohe and Emmanuel in Enchanted Lake.

Clergy: The Rev. William Roberts, from England, served as St. Christopher’s vicar from 1945 to 1947, continuing also to serve as vicar of St. John’s-by-the-Sea.  The Rev. Richard Trelease succeeded the Rev. Roberts in 1947 and became the first rector when St. Christopher’s became a parish in 1950.  Later in 1950, the Rev. Trelease returned to be the head of the Cathedral of St. Andrew, where he had previously been a curate.  (The Rev. Trelease went on to become the Bishop of the Diocese of the Rio Grande.) 

In 1951, the Rev. Richard Upshur Smith was called from California to become the second rector of St. Christopher’s.  The Rev. G.P. Mellick Belshaw, vicar of St. Matthew’s Waimanalo, served as his assistant from 1955 and the Rev. Chester G. Minton appears to have served as a St. Christopher priest from January 1956 to October 1957.  

In 1958, the Rev. Claude DuTeil arrived as St. Christopher’s rector and he served until 1978.  The Rev. Robert Brown served as rector from 1979 to 1987.  In 1988, the Rev. Daniel Smith arrived and served until 1996.  The Rev. Cass Bailey became the rector in 1998, serving until 2010.  And in April, 2011, the Rev. Giovan King became the first woman rector. 

Outreach:  St. Christopher’s has established itself in Kailua as one of long standing service to the community. Shortly after the congregation formed, it adopted a Korean orphanage, sending it supplies periodically. About forty-five years ago, the congregation began holding a monthly Sunday service and coffee hour at the Hawaii State Hospital and now continues to offer a worship service and dinner for patients each Christmas. For decades, members of St. Christopher’s have supported the Institute of Human Services (the largest organization in Hawaii that helps the hungry and homeless; it was begun by its own rector, Fr. Claude DuTeil) and the Windward Spouse Abuse Shelter.  St. Christopher’s helped to begin the Windward Senior Day Care Center, located on its campus, in 1974.  In 2006, St. Christopher’s dedicated a home on its campus to be the first “day house” for Family Promise in Hawaii and St. Christopher’s was a founding member of Hawaii’s Family Promise team, which helps homeless families reestablish themselves in the community.

Members of Alcoholics Anonymous, Alateen, Narcotics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous and other self-help groups have met at the church, along with mental health groups, childbirth classes, cancer support groups and caregivers for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Some figure the church’s buildings are used more than 2,000 hours a year by community groups.

St. Christopher is an Episcopal and Anglican Church.  St. Christopher’s is a parish in the Diocese of Hawaii, and as such is part of the Episcopal Church in the United States.  It is also a part of the world-wide Anglican Communion of Churches, which recognizes the Archbishop of Canterbury as its spiritual leader.