History of the Hawaii DISTRICT

Secondary Title

Type the content for this section here. This is just example text to show you what it will look like when you enter text content into this section. Your unique, authentic, and appropriate text will be filled into this section. Once you click into this section, you will see the filler text disappear, and you can begin typing your real content. We’ve simply put in filler text in this area. No need to get caught up in the actual content of this body text, we've typed meaningless sentences.

Salvation Army church Hilo, HI 1925

Section Title

Secondary Title

In 1912, Clair Delmer Stiles arrived in Hilo as a Salvation Army officer after completing his training in Chicago. Inspired by his brother’s miraculous healing at a Pentecostal tent meeting in Kalihi—led by Charles and Wilhelmina Lochbaum, converts of the 1906 Azusa Street Revival—Brother Stiles pursued baptism in Jesus’ name and the infilling of the Holy Ghost. In 1925, he relocated to Honolulu, joined the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, and was licensed by UPCI Foreign Missions Director Winfred Stairs. Returning to Hilo, Brother Stiles planted his first church at 1072 Kīlauea Street before the congregation later moved to Mountain View, where he served until his passing in 1964.


Photo: Salvation Army Church, Hilo, HI, 1925

Section Title

Secondary Title

Around 1922–23, Oscar Vouga and his wife undertook missionary work in Honolulu, renting a storefront for services and leading street meetings before returning to California. In 1952, J. T. and Wilma Clark became the first UPC missionaries on Maui, building on the 1940s outreach started by Janet Elly, an ex-nun, and Sakie Oka, a former Buddhist, who held services in a Quonset hut near the airport. The Clarks were succeeded by Solis and, later, Tama Taulau—himself rising from Honolulu’s Scott Memorial Church—to pastorship at Calvary UPC, where Bobby and Evalani Nordan now serve in Lahaina. In 1995, John DeCorte III launched a new work in Kahului.


In Honolulu, Lewis and Eugenia Manuwal began UPC missionary efforts in 1954, acquiring and later selling property on King and Middle Streets to make way for the H-1 Freeway, then relocating to Kaimuki. Under their leadership, attendance peaked at 133 before they departed in 1956. Successive pastors included J. T. Clark, R. E. Holly, and, in 1968, W. E. and Grace Scott, who oversaw construction of the church on Ala Aolani Street, completed in 1974.


The modern era of the district began with Rex and Shelley Robertson’s arrival in May 1988. Launching prayer meetings at Kaneohe Marine Chapel and services at Aiea Park, they soon secured a permanent home at 20 Bougainville Drive in June 1989. Under their guidance, New Life UPC expanded through Christian Home Fellowship groups—five of which remain active across Oʻahu—as well as specialized ministries, including a Marshallese outreach begun in 1991 and a preaching point on Molokai initiated in 1988.