Hoku Loa Congregational Church

This small stone church sits on a bluff overlooking the Black Sand Beach at Punalu’u about 55 miles South of Hilo. The church is dedicated to Henry Opukahaia, (1792-1818) the first Hawaiian Christian. He was living in Cornwell Connecticut in 1816 while there he became a devout Christian and worked very hard to convince the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to send missionaries to the Islands. Although he never lived to see it, the first Congregational missionaries arrived in Hawaii in 1820.


The church and the very old grave yard are surrounded by a low stone wall.


Great view of the Black Sand Beach from up there.