Church in Kalihi is first Filipino property on list

When the Rev. Odette Moncado Carrasquillo returned to Hawaii in 2007 after a 20-year absence, the church built six decades earlier by her grandfather and other members of a Filipino organization he founded was in a state of disrepair.

The wood-frame building in Kalihi Valley was shuttered, its windows broken. Weeds engulfed the property.

But Moncado Carrasquillo, affectionately called Pastor O, had a vision. She saw a thriving institution that would be the pride of Hawaii’s Filipino community and a tribute to her grandfather, Hilario Camino Moncado, and Filipino Federation of America members who helped him build the church in 1946.

Today her vision is coming into focus.

After some cosmetic repairs, the church previously known as Filipino Federation of America/Equi Frili Brium reopened its doors and in April became the first Filipino cultural property to be added to the Hawaii Register of Historic Places.

Helping to lower the cost of pursuing a listing, the pastor got help from culture resource planner Stanley Solamillo, whose Filipino grandparents immigrated to Maui in 1922, to write the nomination report and cultural architect Fran Palama to do the property drawings.

The expense of navigating the nomination process often can be an impediment for property owners seeking a listing.

"This was just like a miracle for me," said Moncado Carrasquillo, executive director of the Moncado Foundation, which owns the church, now called Center of Light Christian Ministries. "Without God all this would be really unexplainable."

The church, which remains largely unaltered from the late 1940s, is believed to be the only structure built by federation members for their use.

It served as the centerpiece of what was called Moncado Village, a Filipino planned community that included about 25 homes also built by federation members.

The State Historic Preservation Division, which oversees nominations to the register, is trying to get more properties like the Kalihi church listed to better reflect Hawaii’s cultural diversity.