Henry Hodges Parker

Henry Hodges Parker (March 2, 1834 – September 7, 1927) was the fourth Kahu (pastor) of Kawaiahaʻo Church in Honolulu. He served in that position 54 years, the longest of any Kahu in its history. Fluent in the Hawaiian language, he was a friend and pastor to Native Hawaiians, which included several decades of the Hawaiian monarchy. Background Born March 2, 1834, in Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands, he was the oldest of four children, and the only son, of missionaries Benjamin Wyman Parker (1803–1877) and Mary Elizabeth Barker Parker (1805–1907). They were part of the Sixth Company of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions that had been sent to Nuku Hiva in 1833. The island was under civil unrest at the time, and the mission was aborted within months. The missionaries arrived back in Honolulu on May 12, 1834. The Parkers were assigned to Kaneohe, where Henry and his sisters Mary, Harriet and Caroline grew up. He studied at the Royal School under the tutelage of Edward Griffin Beckwith, and later was enrolled in classes at Punahou School under Daniel Dole and William Harrison Rice. After graduation, he spent two years as an instructor at Lahainaluna High School on Maui. Ministry