Aloha, a hui hou
Kahu Kealahou Alika bids farewell to Keawala‘i Church after 29 years

Accompanied by his trusty poi dog Koa, Kahu Kealahou Alika steps outside of Keawala‘i Church following his final service as pastor. The Maui News / COLLEEN UECHI photos
MAKENA — On his last-ever Sunday preaching from the pulpit of Keawala’i Congregational Church, Kahu Kealahou Alika wants his parishioners to know — he had “nothing to do” with the photo on the front of the church program.
“My office staff in collusion,” he said as the congregation laughed.
Truth be told, the goofy picture of Alika flashing a thumbs-up at the entrance to the church basically sums up the longtime kahu — an easygoing guy who doesn’t take himself too seriously and wants to leave his church on a positive note.
Alika, who is retiring after 29 years at the helm of the historic church beside the sea, delivered his final message Sunday to a teary-eyed, overflowing crowd of more than 200.
“I must confess that if I start to think about the many, many, many ways we have become part of each other’s lives over the last three decades, I would probably become incoherent, not knowing what to do with the well of emotions marked by moments in a life together,” Alika said, pausing as he held back tears.

More than 200 people packed the Keawala‘i Congregational Church on Sunday morning, even spilling out onto the lawn to hear Kahu Kealahou Alika’s last sermon.
“This happened in the first service too,” he said, sparking more laughter.
On Sunday, Alika spoke of Henry Opukaha’ia, one of the earliest Native Hawaiian converts to Christianity, and the man who inspired Alika to bring his ministry home to Hawaii.
Born and raised on Hawaii island, Opukaha’ia was only 10 years old when his parents were killed in a battle at Ka’u. He lived with his uncle in Kealakekua and was training to become a priest at the local heiau when he spotted a seal hunting ship in Kealakekua Bay one day.
On a whim, Opukaha’ia dove into the bay and swam up to the ship, where he was taken aboard and traveled with the crew to New Haven, Conn. There he learned English, Hebrew and Greek, and helped translate portions of the Bible into ‘Olelo Hawai’i.
Opukaha’ia always wanted bring the message of Christ back home, but he died of typhus at age 26. He is credited with inspiring the first American missionaries to Hawaii in 1820.

Well-wishers say their goodbyes to Kahu Alika outside of Keawala‘i Church on Sunday afternoon
“I was born in Kealakekua, and I’m from Kona, and so part of my call into ministry is shaped by this young Hawaiian man,” Alika said before the service.
Like Opukaha’ia, Alika left home and found his calling, graduating from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, Calif., in 1979. As a 1967 graduate of Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama and a 1975 graduate of the University of Hawaii-Hilo (Hilo College at the time), Alika wanted to come home. So, after 11 years of working in the Bay Area, he returned to Hawaii in the summer of 1990 and visited some Native Hawaiian churches.
Keawala’i had already filled an open position at the time, so Alika didn’t expect to get a job there. But after the new hire was unable to come, Alika “got the call” in December 1990. He started at Keawala’i on Feb. 16, 1991.
Alika said he’s not a fluent speaker of ‘Olelo Hawai’i — what he knows is from his time at Kamehameha — but he leads out in Hawaiian and English, alternating prayers and hymns in both languages.
Barbara Halai Fernandez, a member for 40 years, remembers when Alika was first hired. Her husband, David Haha Fernandez, was on the search committee, and they had “heard of this young boy from Kona who wanted to come home.” He was “very respectful,” a local boy who embraced the culture and was always available to the congregation and the community. He’d strike up conversations with tourists who came to visit the church, and often they’d wind up returning for Sunday services.

Kahu Kealahou Alika recites a vow of release along with the congregation as he officially retires from Keawala‘i Congregational Church on Sunday, exactly 29 years after he first arrived Feb. 16, 1991.
For longtime families of Makena, having a Native Hawaiian at the helm of a church built by Hawaiian hands was especially meaningful.
Tanya Lee-Greig, granddaughter of Aunty Caroline Delima, a respected kupuna of the church when Alika first arrived, said that the church is “like a piko for our ohana,” and that it was the only place she heard Hawaiian language spoken conversationally. Alika has been a big part of her own family, officiating her wedding and baptizing her children.
“It’s bittersweet,” she said of his departure. “He brought such life to the church.”
Lifelong Makena resident Edward Chang of the Kukahiko family has been going to the church since 1938. Back when Chang was growing up, “you couldn’t even find a car in Makena.” There were a handful of families, and because the church membership was so small, it only opened once a month and was led by a visiting pastor from another Maui church.
Chang’s great-grandmother was a very active member and among the many longtime Makena families who helped take care of the church grounds even when membership dwindled.
While there were Native Hawaiian kahu at Keawala’i before Chang was born, Alika is the “first part-Hawaiian, full-time kahu” that Chang has seen in his time.
“He has the Hawaiian passion,” Chang said. “We think a little different. We feel settled a little different . . . in our place. He is a very settled person. He doesn’t get overly excited.”
Chang said Alika mingles well with locals and visitors alike, and while the demographics of Keawala’i have changed over the years, they share a common love for the church.
“The biggest part of the congregation is, right now, tourists, and the tourists have supported the church a lot, in our organ, our piano, the money that we spent to spruce up this place,” Chang said. “We’re thankful for that.”
Ever humble, Alika would rather the attention Sunday be on the community and the kupuna that came before him. He said that he came to Keawala’i because of Opukaha’ia, but he stayed because of Delima, who “never spoke a bad word about anyone ever.” Alika said staying at Keawala’i has been part of the lesson he had to learn, to become as loving and gracious as her, and it’s the lesson he hopes to leave with his congregation.
“It’s not so complicated,” he said. “Because you (might) say, ‘You always talk about love, love, love.’ Well, that’s what it is. It’s not complicated. The good news is, God loves us, period.”
Alika’s focus on love and inclusivity goes back to his childhood in Kona, when he always used to get picked last for the baseball team in P.E. class. That feeling of being left out stayed with him.
“I’m 70 years old now, and what I learned from that experience, and when I talk to the kids, I don’t want anyone to feel like they don’t matter,” he said. “That if you feel like someone is saying you’re not worthy, that’s a lie.”
“To this day I suck at baseball,” he added, laughing.
Alika still has three weddings to officiate before he fully retires, but once he does, he plans to sort through the 35 to 40 interviews of church kupuna recorded 20 years ago. Of those kupuna, he estimates 75 percent are gone. So, he wants to spend retirement putting together their stories.
He said his interim replacement will be the Rev. Dr. Scott Landis of San Diego until the church can find a permanent pastor.
* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.