History
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THE HISTORY OF ST. JUDE PARISH
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From Makakilo Catholic Club to
St. Jude Catholic ChurchSt. Jude Parish got its start in 1967 when a group of Makakilo Catholics began planning for a church in Makakilo, a district that was then part of Immaculate Conception Church in Ewa. They became the Makakilo Catholic Club. In the 1970s, the pastor of Immaculate Conception began celebrating Sunday Masses at the Makakilo Elementary School cafeteria. In 1985, the St. Jude Society, as the community was called, became a mission of the Ewa church with then Pastor, Monsignor Benito Caraballo.
A Finance Committee and Parish Council were created to help move and motivate the mission. On February 1, 1988, the Most Reverend Bishop Joseph Ferrario, established St. Jude Parish and appointed Reverend Jim Berry as Pastor. The parish covered the areas of Makakilo, Honokai Hale and Barbers Point. Masses were celebrated at the Makakilo Recreation Center.In 1989, we purchased the property for a church facility. It would take another ten (10) years before we were finally able to break ground and start building our St. Jude Catholic church.
In 1992, Reverend Roland Pacudan was appointed Pastor of St. Jude. He formed the Building Committee, tasking them to implement plans for a new church building. Land was acquired and everything was set in motion. At that time, other ministries were also formed, such as Religious Education, Worship, Social and Hospitality.
Many other ministries would follow to help further our St. Jude Mission:
We, the community of St. Jude, commit ourselves to Jesus Christ our savior, His teachings, and the Tradition of the Roman Catholic Church.
To fund our new facility, we started a pledge drive and executed many fundraising events. Some events included luaus, golf tournaments, grand give-a-ways, boat cruises and St. Jude Cookbook sales. Corporate gifts and monetary donations also provided revenues toward the building of our church.
On May 7, 1998, the Most Reverend Bishop Joseph Ferrario, priest, families and friends gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking ceremony of our new facility. Construction began shortly after. On January 8, 1999, a Certificate of Occupancy was granted. The dedication of St. Jude Catholic Church was held on February 14th with the Most Reverend Bishop Joseph A. Ferrario (1982-1993) and Most Reverend Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo (1993-2004) presiding.
Today, more than 50 years after the St. Jude Society set its goal of a church, St Jude is now looking to expand with a new property and and a new building. The property at Leihano was acquired Oct. 17, 2014 for an undisclosed price from KSL Leihano Holdings II, LLC. The 11 acre property more then triples the 3.7 acre prroperty our current church sits on.
Plans to build our new facility have begun.
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An Abbreviated History of St. Jude Catholic Church
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By Deacon John Coughlin, February 25, 2024
A LOOK TO THE PAST
From where we are gathered today…just imagine what it looked like in 1965. To the South…looking out towards Barbers Point was cane field. At night, the only light came from the Naval Air Station…and distant Ewa and Ewa Beach. There were no shopping centers or fast foods and no traffic lights…only the lonely Pantry (as it was called then) just above us on the hill.
FROM DIRT, WEEDS, AND FALLOW GROUND
Where we are seated was the remnants of an old earthen berm water cistern and a series of wooden flumes that were used for irrigation.
Above us on the West side of the hill was the early development of Makakilo…the homes on the Waianae side of Makakilo Drive. Within that new community were a group of loyal Catholics who longed for a church in their community. While that dream looked a long way off, they set about finding ways to celebrate Mass without one…in homes…in the schools…and eventually at the REC Center at the top of the hill.
FIRST STEPS
As a late-comer to Makakilo…1978…(an exile from distant Kailua) my first inkling of this future parish came several years later as I was as exiting the freeway (two lanes Westbound then). As I approached this intersection I saw, for the first time, a white sign, lovingly constructed by some of our founders…made in the shape of a country church…stating “The Future Site of St. Jude Catholic Church!” Never did I realize how much a part of my life this parish would become…for me…and for so many.
THE MOTHER CHURCH
At that time, the mother church was little Immaculate Conception Parish in Ewa…a “mother” that would soon to be eclipsed in size by its fledging child.
IT'S BIBLICAL
The story of this parish seems almost biblical. It took just a little over 40 years from the first organized efforts by our founders…to the realization of this building that was dedicated 25 years ago today.
THE CHURCH IS THE PEOPLE
Notice that I didn’t say CHURCH. The CHURCH is not the building…it’s the people. Church comes from the Greek word…Ecclesia…meaning “gathering” or “group.” This community became CHURCH long before it had a building…in fact, long before it became a parish. It became a church when the people of Makakilo came together to worship God.
Perhaps the greatest lesson that I…and many others…learned in the years prior to the completion of this site…is just that; …the Church exists when people gather in the name of the Lord…to participate in the Eucharistic meal and to pray and support each other as a community.
In that sense…maybe this is nearly our 60th anniversary as a church…and our 25th with a dedicated worship space to call our own.
THE NEWEST PARISH
From the standpoint of our recognition as a parish by the diocese, that event took place on February 1, 1988 when St. Jude was formally established as a parish. Our first pastor was Fr. Jim Berry…and the entire life of the parish soon began to function from the garage of the current rectory on Leipapa Way…and did so from 1988 until February 1999…25 years ago.
In 1989, the diocese purchased the ground we’re standing on… but it was another 10 years until this building became a reality and we moved from the garage…the bunker, from the trunks of 3 cars…and the Rec Center to our current home.
THE PILGRIM CHURCH
Along the way, Mass had been celebrated in every school on this hillside and in the Rec Center. The sacristy existed in the trunks of two or three cars…vestments, altar, sound system, all vessels, linens and accessories to celebrate mass were contained in those vehicles. For several years it fell upon our then director of liturgy, Linda Magno, to make sure it arrived at the right place, on time…and with all the right supplies. We were truly a pilgrim church…wandering the hillside.
I remember Joe Woo and Kalani Frank leading the effort in setting up the Rec Center and tearing it down…week after week. There, under the summer fun banners which added to our liturgical environment (the skenckin lady bugs…and other creative artistic expressions) we heard the Word of God and received the Body and Blood of our Lord. We baptized our babies and hugged our friends and neighbors…but funerals, weddings, confirmations had to be celebrated elsewhere.
Our religious education and sacramental preparation took place in the rectory and in homes throughout the community.
THE "BUNKER"
And speaking of worship, perhaps the most unlikely location was our site for daily Mass…the infamous “bunker.” Sometime after the arrival of Fr. Roland Pacudan as pastor…and through the efforts of two of our parishioners, Louie Larrimer and Estrella Estillore, we were able to rent some space from the Lions Club in an old artillery bunker tucked into the valley just above our current site and just below Malama Market…adjacent the current Makakilo nursery. It’s hard to picture it now, but before Easter Seals and the adjacent development were built, there was a dirt road that went directly from our entryway to the bunker. For several years during the period just before this church was built, a dozen or more hardy souls would gather there daily for Mass and fellowship.
GROUNDBREAKING
On the day of groundbreaking for this site, the little group that celebrated Mass in the bunker, like the Israelites leaving Egypt and crossing the Jordan…walked the dirt road to where we are now…entering, for the first time, the promised land.
SMALL BUT DETERMINED
But even as they stood proudly that day, the challenge remained, how was a community of 300 families going to be able to raise enough money to build a facility to accommodate 2 to 3 thousand families? No one could imagine then the amount of growth that was to take place on the plains beneath us and on the mountains above us. But…that was our challenge… “build for the future.”
FUNDRAISING
That challenge fell to the builders…and to build anything…we need prayers…yes…but we also needed MONEY!
Fundraising for the parish started with its Stew Dinners…and lead to just about every other fundraiser event imaginable…culminating with a luau down at Hau Bush in Ewa Beach. There are still some survivors of that effort…Bill Aiu being one of them. He’s still recovering!
PROPHETIC
The dedication of this parish to Saint Jude was prophetic… as it lead to the initial slogan that we chose to promote our fundraising efforts. That slogan was… “The possible dream.” Today…and for the past quarter century…we have been living that dream. (And if anyone has one of those shirts with the slogan…we should probably raffle it off to raise money for building on our Leihano site!)
DREAMS FULLFILLED
After years of praying and planning…the dream was finally realized on this day in 1999. But…I’ll let you in a little secret…with Bishop DiLorenzo’s permission…we celebrated the first Mass in this building on Sunday…January 17th. The bishop noted that while the church was not yet formally dedicated …neither was the REC Center.
But…from February 25th…the official day of dedication…we never looked back. As the altar and the walls of the church were anointed with Holy Chrism and blessed by the sprinkling of Holy Water…this parish received new life in the spirit that lives even stronger today evan as the years go by.
HISTORY YET TO BE WRITTEN
The history of St. Jude is still evolving. All of us here have an opportunity to honor our founders and builders in living out the dream of becoming the Core of the Catholic Faith in the second city of Kapolei.
Our next challenge lies just off in the distance. As they say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day!”
LAND LOCKED
If you look at the growth in our community…you realize that the walls of this building will eventually not hold those who will need the sacraments. It will soon no longer accommodate the young children who need instruction in faith. It will not be able to adequately aid those who need food or assistance. And…the truth is…we are land locked.
This is an opportunity for us to become the builders of the future. This is an opportunity to honor our past and to realize that nothing is impossible with the help of God and our patron saint…St. Jude.
But as we prepare for the future…we need to remember that the church is not the building. It is US. It’s the community of roughly 1800 families who love God, love their neighbor, and care for each other. Whether it’s a community of 300 or 3000…we are all brothers and sisters on a journey of faith.
There is no doubt…God has blessed us and God will sustain us…and guide us as he guided the Israelites through the desert.
In these next 25 years…and with the faith of our founders…we have an opportunity to carry the faith to our new home…just across the Jordan (or actually just across the H1 in this case) to our new promised land. There…our history can continue. There…our presence can be a beacon to this new city. There…our Lord can be worshipped and glorified…and there, future generations can tell our story and create their own stories for those who will follow them.
We thank the Lord, we thank our founders, we thank our builders…we thank our clergy, Fr. Khanh (our longest serving pastor), Fr. Boniface, Fr. Clarence, my brother deacons, Will, Raul and Derek, our first Deacon…Dcn Eddy Vargas, and all of the clergy who have served this community, and we especially thank you…our family…because it is us…together that makes us ecclesia…that makes us CHURCH!!! To our family with us…and to those who have gone before us…Happy 25th St. Jude. And in the years ahead…we ask our patron…ST. JUDE…PRAY FOR US!
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