Lutheranism
in the Hawaiian Islands...
THE FIRST LUTHERAN CONGREGATION
On July 9th, 1882, the first Lutheran pastor arrived from
Germany
to start a church in Lihue on the island of Kauai. His name
was Freiderich Richter and he brought with him a
pre-fabricated
church building from Germany. His primary job was taking care
of
the many German Lutherans working in the sugar industry.
LIhue
Lutheran (a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America -
ELCA) is still standing, although the original building has been
rebuilt several times due to hurricanes.
THE FIRST LCMS
CONGREGATION Our Redeemer, located on University
Avenue across from the University of Hawaii, was birthed in 1945.
OTHER NOTABLE LUTHERAN
INFLUENCE
The Royal Hawaiian Band was started in 1836 by King
Kamehameha
III (the oldest municipal band in the United States.) IN
1872,
King Kalakaua appointed Heinrich (Henry) Berger as the
bandmaster.
His musical arrangement of "Hymn of Kamehameha I" eventually
became the state anthem, "Hawai'i Pono'i" with lyrics by King Kalakaua.
Queen Lili'uokalani named him the "Father of Hawaiian Music."
He worked with Kamehameha Schools to develop its music
program
and started a group that eventually became the Honolulu Symphony.
He was the first music director at "German Lutheran Church"
which
later became known as Lutheran Church of Honolulu.