KAPAA — The Feast of Our Holy Sovereigns traditionally takes place during the Emmalani Festival, which remembers Queen Emma’s visit to Kauai in 1871.
“The sanctuary was being worked on during that time in October,” the Rev. Ryan Newman of the All Saints’ Episcopal Church said Sunday.
“We just opened the sanctuary last week, and decided this was the time to hold the Feast of Our Holy Sovereigns. We were going to do the service in the All Saints’ Gym, but we decided to wait.”
An overflow audience, with members of the Hawaiian benevolent societies — including the Royal Order of Kamehameha I, ‘Ahahui Ka‘ahumanu, Hale O Na Ali‘i, and the Daughters of Hawaii — filled the Kapaa church.
The service paid tribute to Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV, both individuals “living beyond their baptism,” Newman said.
“We still have the pipe organ to install,” said Wayne Doliente, a church member. “The organ is being constructed in California, and should be installed in 2018.”
Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV invited the Church of England to visit Hawaii, and the Episcopal Church in Hawaii was chartered in 1862 under the laws of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
The king and queen supported the church’s presence throughout the Hawaiian Islands with gifts of land, including the land on which All Saints’ Church calls home.
“We were really lucky because we got two plants from the spider lily collection at the queen’s summer palace on Oahu,” said Pam Chock of the Daughters of Hawaii. “One will go into the church’s garden, and I get to add the second one to my collection at home.”
As a church of the Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii, All Saints’ is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion that joins together more than 70 million members in 163 countries. The All Saints’ church was founded as Kauai’s first mission of the Episcopal Church in 1924 at Kealia. It moved to its present location in 1925.
