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OLPH Parish History
The Catholic Church has a rich history in the Ewa plains dating back to the 1840's. At that time, Fr. Arsenius Walsh, known as the "Apostle of Hawaii," made the Ewa district a regular calling point. In 1855 Fr. Aganthange Froult became the first priest to be assigned here. The first permanent structure was built at Honouliuli. As the new sugar plantation was established and began to grow, so did the population. In 1929, a new church was built in the plantation town of Ewa on Renton Road, and was named Immaculate Conception.
In the late 1940's, the Ewa Beach area was attracting new residents. Continued growth was foreseen and the need for a mission church in that area was evident. In 1949, Bishop Sweeney approved the new mission which was built on Fort Weaver Road.
The parishioners of Ewa, Ewa Beach, Barber's Point and their friends all contributed in various ways to raise money such as: private donations, sale of lau laus, fish, sweet bread, pot luck dinners, bingo games, and script. Many donated their labor, time and expertise to complete the new church which remained a mission of Immaculate Conception. It was completed and blessed by Bishop Sweeney in 1951.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help devotions had been introduced to the islands a few years prior to this by Redemptorist priests who conducted retreats in all the parishes. It was suggested by one of the Ewa Beach parishioners to name the new mission church "Our Lady of Perpetual Help." No other church in the islands had that name. The pastor, Fr. Theodore, approved, and the Bishop concurred.
All the church furnishings were donated by the people. It was truly a combined priest-parishioners effort that made the new Catholic church, and the first in Ewa Beach, a reality. In July of 1969, Bishop John Scanlon made Our Lady of Perpetual Help a fully independent parish separate from Immaculate Conception. By then, its Sunday attendance was more than that of Immaculate Conception. Ewa Beach was growing.
It wasn't long after, that a larger church was needed. Adding more Sunday Masses would not adequately meet the needs of the expanding population.
Like a growing child, Our Lady nurtured and nourished the growth of her little church in Ewa Beach. But there just was not enough space at the Ft. Weaver Road location in which to expand. In fact, expanding the church there would be too expensive and insufficient. New land was needed with enough space to build and expand into the future. But where? Would it be affordable? These were not rich people. They were the “roll up you sleeves” kind of people. They were literally the “salt of the earth” that Jesus talked about. The odds for expansion seemed against this new parish. BUT, the odds did not figure on our Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Perpetual Help. She would make it possible.
"OLPH School Comes First"
The original church began as a Mission of Immaculate Conception parish in Ewa on Renton Road. Our Lady of Perpetual Help mission was built on Ft. Weaver Road and dedicated in 1951. It got its name because of the devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help which had recently been introduced by Redemptorist priests who had conducted some retreats in the Diocese at that time.
This was literally a grass roots effort. Money for the construction was raised from individual donations and all kinds fundraisers. The church furnishings also came from donations fro the surrounding community. But it wasn’t long before the little wooden church on Fort Weaver Rd. had outgrown its space.
The new pastor, Fr. Bernard Eikmeier asked, then Bishop Sweeney, what could be done about increasing the size of OLPH Mission. The over crowding was becoming serious. Checking with an architect, it was decided that the cost of adding room for merely a hundred more people would be far too expensive and too congested. Land for a new church needed to be found.
While visiting Fr. Ernest Claes, SS.CC. at St. Joseph parish in Waipahu, Fr. Eikmeier met a gentleman from the U.S. Government who was in charge of making excess federal surplus lands available for private ventures. Fr. Eikmeier asked if there were any such land in the Ewa Beach area. The man assured him that there indeed was a goodly amount there. One section was being reserved for a new high school (the future Campbell High School). Another parcel was set aside for a contractor who would be building a new housing subdivision (the present Ewa Beach Estates). The property between these two parcels was available. The only hitch was that it had to be used for Education, Health or Welfare purposes. The federal land could not be sold to build a church. Fr. Eikmeier, nevertheless, jumped at the prospect. Our Lady was definitely laying the groundwork for her future parish.
The land was still complete overgrown with keawe bushes. Fr. Eikmeier and a couple of men from the parish went out to survey the property with axes and chain saw, and found it acceptable even though the ground was all coral based. But coral can be covered, right? Fr. Eikmeier requested ten acres. When told that it could not be used for a church, he said that it would be used for a school. The Church, with Mary’s help, would come later. He was granted 8.8 acres. He contacted the Marist Sisters at Star of the Sea parish and school in Waialae who indicated interest in staffing the new school.
The Sisters began immediately to make preparation for their coming to Ewa Beach; and negotiating with the pastor of a Protestant Church, Fr. Eikmeier was able to obtain a neighboring house for the Sisters. The payment of the parish acreage was handled by the Diocesan Business Office. This was at an 80% discount to be amortized over a period of 20 years of the estimated evaluation of $150,(808) 689-8681.
Upon advice of others, Fr. Eikmeier engaged the Architectual firm of a Mr. Rummel to design the school. When that was completed, bids were requested from various contractors and a contract was negotiated with the lowest bidder by the Diocese. And “Our Lady” provided another unforeseen benefit. It just so happened that Our Lady of Good Counsel parish in Pearl City was trying to get rid of some rich top soil. They too were doing some construction and they had more dirt than they could use. OLPH got the soil it needed just for the cost of hauling it. Thank you, Mother Mary!.
Construction proceeded on schedule and the first of the two school buildings was ready for school as were the Sisters who arrived and took up residence in their remodeled home on Papipi Drive. The year was 1968. But what about the needed new church?
"OLPH School Opens and the Parish Grows"
In the last part we told you how the present property came form surplus Federal Lands. But it stipulated that the land could only be given free if it was used for education, health or welfare purposes. Fr. Eikmeier, the pastor at that time, decided to go ahead and put in for the land and to build a parish school. The new parish church would have to wait. But he knew that someday the church would come. Mother Mary would make sure of that.
Construction of the school began in 1966. The first building of Our Lady of Perpetual Help School was completed and blessed in August of 1967. The single one story building consisted of four classrooms, a library, administrative offices and restooms. School opened in September of 1967. A second similar building was added a short time later. This consisted of five classrooms and restrooms. Grades five to eight were eventually added, as well as the kindergarten. It was originally staffed by six Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary.
The school was purposely set back from North Road to accommodate the building of a new parish church once that was possible. But for then, that would have to wait because of the 20 year amortization clause of the government contract. In July of 1969, Bishop John Scanlon made OLPH a fully independent parish and no longer a mission of Immaculate Conception in Ewa. Fr. Francis Phillips became its first full time pastor.
The period between 1972 and 1976 was a time of growth and change for OLPH. During this time the priests serving the growing parish community doubled. At the school, the Marist Sisters, who had made up the staff since its opening, dwindled and finally ended. The school was left in the hands of a totally lay faculty and administration for a few years, until the Augustinian Sisters arrived at the beginning of the (808) 689-8681 school year. During the same time, the school expanded into a full kindergarten to eight grade facility.
A more important kind of growth occurred at the little wooden church on Fort Weaver Road. Increasing numbers of parishioners began to take a more active part in parish life. The beginnings of a parish and finance council appeared as well as a liturgy planning committee. Increasing numbers of musicians and singers enabled the parish to form a difference choir for almost every Sunday Mass. The Altar Society expanded into a corps of women ever ready to reach out to others in the community who were in need. The Holy Name Society was reactivated and a Council of the Knights of Columbus was formed. A parish unit of the Filipino Catholic Club was also initiated.
The vitality of the parish began to show in a special way in its liturgical life. The Thanksgiving Eve Mass became a highlight of the year. Holy Week and Easter celebrations became more and more enthusiastic and elaborate. A New Year’s Eve Mass celebrated the blessings of each year as it ended. The Flore de Mayo developed into a festive celebration of Mother Mary, our Patroness. Baptisms became an integral part of Sunday Masses and Confirmation was the occasion for a gala parish celebration. Other celebrations indicative of the life of the parish also appeared ranging from the annual gathering at the end of January for all who were engaged in any of the may parish ministries, down to the less formal Sunday afternoon volleyball games.
As Ewa Beach continued to expand in both activity and in population, it became every more obvious that the little church that has served the community so well for so may years was no longer adequate. Plans were set in motion for a new church building to meet the expanded needs of the parish. But unless the land where the school was located was purchased, the stipulation by the Federal government that it could only be used for education or health and welfare purposes was still binding. Where were we going to get the money to purchase the land outright? Mother Mary comes to the rescue again.
"The New Church is Built"
Our parish was facing a dilemma. We had outgrown the little church on Fr. Weaver Road. Expanding the old church was not the solution. Not only would it be expensive, but even then, there still wouldn’t be room to accommodate the growing Catholic population of Ewa Beach.
The parish school on North Road was built on federal surplus land. According to the provision, for twenty years, the land could not be sold and could only be used for education or health purposes. Since the property on which the school was built was provided in 1966, that meant the that church could not be built there until 1986. The only other option was to purchase the surplus property outright. But where would the money come from? Even if the land was purchased, there would hardly be any money left to construct the church. What to do!
If this were a purely human endeavor, the story would probably have ended here. But this was the Church Our Land of Perpetual Help. Our Lady was not giving in that easy. She would provide a way. She had already done it several times in the brief history of the parish. She would do it again.
It turns out that some property across the street from the school, was donated to the church. It was sold, and the proceeds were used to purchase the right to build a church on the school grounds. What’s the odds of that happening just at this particular time? Thanks again to your Mother Mary.
A special committee was formed and met regularly to discuss immediate plans for the new church. A building fund began to grow, and an architect was secured. A new era was dawning for OLPH. Construction of the present church began in 1977. Ground breaking took place in October of 1977. The rectory (or priest’s residence) was built behind the church. Both church and rectory as economically as possible. To meet the needs of the population, the church had to be built as soon as possible. The parish did not have the financial means so the Diocese of Honolulu would have to provide the necessary financing. It was simple, there were no frills, but it was three times bigger that the old church on Ft. Weaver Road. There was also ample parking, and a rectory that had room the three priests.
Parishioners worked hard and diligently on landscaping, relocating the Marian alcove, and putting the other finishing touches that transformed it from a stark hollow tile facility into a spiritual home for the Ewa Beach community. (I got a good laugh when I saw a notation that the rectory was built for the substantial cost of $12,(808) 689-8681
We now had a parish school, a parish church building, a rectory, substantial parking, along with several undeveloped acres behind the school for expansion. The future looked good. But one of the drawbacks in building a bare bones facility, was the lack of sufficient space for offices, meeting/conference rooms, and storage space. There wasn’t enough money to build a parish hall or multipurpose center. But this was still a milestone and quite an accomplishment. Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish had finally arrived at its permanent home. The first Mass celebrated on Christmas of 1997 at midnight. However, it was an open air Mass as the building was far from being completed. The vault of heaven provided the first ceiling. Only the four walls were standing, and there was no roof yet. The old church on Ft. Weaver Road was sold to the Espcopalians. The formal dedication of the new church took place on April 9, 1978, and was dedicated by Bishop Scanlon.
"Where we are today"
Thanks to a few small miracles through the assistance of Our Blessed Mother, the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was finally built on its present location on North Road. Bishop Scanlan formally dedicated the newly built church on April 9, 1978.
The Honolulu Diocese, with the proceeds from the sale of another donated property, paid for the construction. But this had to be paid back by the parish. The Diocese put up the full amount needed to build the new church because time was of the essence. It couldn’t wait until the parish came up with at least half of the cost of the construction as is normally required. That would have caused a hardship on OLPH parish which was already bursting at the seams at its smaller location on Ft. Weaver Rd.
At the same time, the Diocese needed quick repayment from the parish so that it could help finance other much needed construction in the Diocese. The Church was “land” rich, but “cash” poor. Located behind OLPH School was some undeveloped property that was part of the original 8.8 acres of surplus federal land granted back in 1966. The intention was to use this land as the parish and school expanded in the future.
With the urgent need for cash, it was decided that the undeveloped land would be sold and the money used to repay the Diocese. This is where the new housing development is now being built behind the school. One consequence of that is that the sale of this portion also included an access driveway that would cut right into the parish parking lot. This was not a problem initially, because the property remained undeveloped and the parish still had the total use of its Campbell School side parking lot. But eventually, the property was resold and the new owners had plans to build a housing development. Eventually that would mean a loss of 1/5 of the parking lot for the parish, as well as the elimination of the Campbell School side driveway. That was going to hurt!
Who could have known way back then how this would negatively impact the parish? Imagine if the parish still had that 3+ acres behind the school available for its use. We would have had all the land we needed to build a parish hall, offices, meeting rooms, storerooms, and pre-school, and still have room left over. But hindsight is easy, foresight is more difficult. If we knew then what we know now. Oh well!
In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s the Ewa Plain witnessed tremendous population growth. The areas vast agricultural lands were being developed for housing and commercial use. The City and County and State were committed to creating a “second City” in the Ewa plain, and the trend for growth was taking off. By 1990, the population of the Ewa Plain was estimated at 57,000. By 2010 it was projected to more than double to around 126, 000 people.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish was already feeling the pinch in regards to lack of space. When the new housing development was started two years ago, the parish parking lot on the Campbell School side was cut almost in half. When they put in the property fence, the driveway was also cut off. To apply for another driveway would mean having to seek a special variance from the City and County, and you now how long that takes (assuming it would even be granted). Meanwhile, the Federal Government was requiring all public facilities (business, schools, churches, etc.) to switch from a cesspool to a sewer system linked up to City and County sewer lines. When originally built, this whole area had no City and County sewer lines. Everyone was using their own cesspool. The cost of making the switch and complying to Federal Government standards was going to be very expensive. The parish had until April 2005 to be in compliance or face fines of up to $10,(808) 689-8681 per day. Ouch!
I was assigned as the new pastor of OLPH in July of 2004 and inherited this nightmare. The parish with the leadership of Fr. Lio and Sr. Davilyn, had just managed to get the school debt paid off. Now we had two more potential setbacks to deal with. Would Blessed Mother Mary be able to help us out of this one?
"Mary Comes Through Again"
By federal statute, our parish had to switch from a cesspool system to a sewer system that hooked up to the City & County sewer line. Failure to comply could lead to a fine of up to $10,000 per day. The County sewer line was too far away from where our school and church restrooms were. The estimated cost would be extremely high. On top of that, there was no way that we could make the change by the deadline date set by the federal government.
Luckily, very few other business, as well as State and County facilities, could not meet the deadline either. Everyone was seeking an extension. The government gave in and said that as long as an identified facility was making an “earnest” effort to put in a sewer system, it would not be fined. That bought us a little time.
Meanwhile, the land behind the parish school was being developed for residential housing. They also had to put in sewer lines. Since they had to run their sewer pipe all the way to North Road, perhaps we could hook up with them by running a sewer pipe from our school yard to their private road. That would save us a bundle. Top save more money, could we use the same heavy construction company that the housing development was already using? “Mother Mary, HELP US!” And she did, and we were able to put in the sewer line for a much lower cost ($165,(808) 689-8681), than the $300,000 or more that it might have cost us.
With the sewer line completed, we could now turn our attention to our parking situation. The driveway on the Campbell High School side of parish property that we had been using for years, belonged to the new housing development. Since this was gong to be a private “gated” community, that meant we had no exit on that side of the church. In order to put in a our own driveway, we needed to apply for a variance from the County. Since there already were two driveways in close proximity— at Campbell High School, and at the new housing development— it did not seem likely that the County would agree to our request for a third driveway. Our hopes and plans stalled. After the white fence was put up, not only was the parking on that side severely limited, but you had to drive back to the other parking lot on the Honolulu side, to exit onto North Road. This would cause a lot of congestion for parents dropping off and picking up their children at school, not to mention the added congestion on Sundays.
With a lot of prayer, I decided…. I took a chance to have a temporary driveway cut on the Campbell High School side parking lot. I asked the construction company that was doing the road paving for the housing development if they would cut out the curbing in our parking lot fronting North Road. They did. I worried about what would happen if the County got wind of this, or even if the police were to ask questions. I did a lot of praying, and a lot of worrying. This went on for months while we waited to hear from the County about our request for a variance. Finally, we got it. How? I didn’t ask. I just thanked God and Our Mother. One more hurdle to go.
Now we had to get the permit. Do you know what it’s like to get a construction permit from the County. It could take months! This called for more prayer. “We’ve come this far, please Mother Mary, help speed things up!” The call came from the Diocesan Office. We got the permit!
We had budgeted around $100,(808) 689-8681 for the driveway and parking lot on the Campbell School side. The engineering and drawings required to get the permit already cost us $12,(808) 689-8681. The bids went out and the proposals came in. The lowest bid was for $45,(808) 689-8681.
So we finally did it! The sewer system was complete, a new driveway put in, the Campbell side parking lot reconfigured, and we could finally move on to plan for our future. The history of this parish has been a history of Divine intervention with the intercession and assistance of our Blessed Mother. She really has lived up to her title of “Perpetual Help.”. May we, in turn, live up to our call and to our mission as the parish community of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
"Where Do We Go From Here?"
For the last few parts we have been looking at the history of our parish from its humble beginnings as a mission of Immaculate Conception Parish in 1951 to its present situation today. Our history is the story of faith in God, hope for the future, and the deep love for this community of Ewa Beach. We have been richly blessed by the grace of God and the intercessions of our Blessed Mother who helped us to overcome so many obstacles and difficulties that threatened the future of our parish. We owe so much to those who gave so unselfishly and generously of their time, talent and treasure to bring us to the point where we are today. We stand literally on their shoulders enjoying the fruits of the labors.
We have much to be thankful for, and as such there is also much that will be expected of us. That is what Jesus tells us in today’s gospel: “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” We are now beginning master planning for the future of our parish facilities. How can they be improved? What other facilities do we need to accommodate population growth, the growth and expansion of parish programs and ministries, etc? How can we make our facilities more visually appealing, inviting, more welcoming?
At the same time we are moving forward with our parish pastoral planning. Our parish is more than just our physical facilities. First and foremost we are a faith community of people dedicated to God and serving his Kingdom on earth. Our Parish Mission outlines who we are and what we are about. Our Pastoral Plan seeks to put the Parish Mission into an action plan with goals and objectives that help to galvanize our parish and realize our vision for the future.
The Pastoral Plan arose out of a combination of input from parish town hall meetings and surveys, as well as that of the Parish Pastoral Advisory Council (PPAC). The Plan was developed, revised and refined over a period of several months. I recently called a gathering of all those actively involved in our parish ministries so I could introduce the draft of the Pastoral Plan, and seek their input and cooperation in implementing this Plan. (A summary of this Plan is included as an insert to this Bulletin.) The focus of this plan will be on Community: How do we build it, cultivate and foster it, maintain and sustain it? This involves getting more of our parishioners involved in the active life of our parish. To help get more people actively involved we are beginning a Stewardship Committee. This also involves a lot of communication. As more and more people become involved in the parish, how do we keep everyone in communication with what is going on and with how people can be in contact with one another?
To help with this we want to start the T.A.P. Committee (Technical, Administration & Publicity), who will look at ways to enhance and expand the ways in which we can better communicate with everyone. We also need to expand opportunities for social gatherings so that we can get to know each other better and be able to work closely together. We want to start up a Fellowship Committee who can organize and set up such gatherings after Sunday Masses and at other times during the year. We want to expand our grounds maintenance to include landscaping of our grounds. Lets make our Church grounds the most beautiful and inviting that we can make it.
Along with all these plans, we also want to improve and expand our parish programs and existing ministries. This would entail arranging for parish retreats, days of recollection, more opportunities for spirituality and devotions, different kinds of adult education and formation, evangelization outreach to non-practicing Catholics, enlarging our social outreach ministry, and becoming more noticeably involved in the larger community of Ewa Beach.
“Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more,” said Jesus in today’s gospel. Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish has received much, and has been richly blessed over the years. We have much to offer and more to give of our time, talent and treasure. Let us look forward to our future together, building the Kingdom, giving glory to God.
Aloha ke Akua,
Fr. Scott