Church moves to new 'Aiea site
By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
'AIEA — After spending nearly two decades crammed into an old downtown theater, Calvary Chapel Honolulu has moved into space where it can grow.
On Sunday the church held a formal dedication at its new facility, a 900-seat sanctuary on a spacious six-acre lot at 98-1016 Komo Mai Drive in 'Aiea.
The church also built a 58,000-square-foot school building and full-size gymnasium with a kitchen and locker rooms, for a grade school that will open in September.
"We were bursting at the seams," said Ed Arcalas, administrative pastor at Calvary Chapel, which was at Beretania Street and Nu'uanu Avenue. "We wanted a place where our families could grow. ... We were just restricted in the sense of space in downtown."
The church also boasts a Christian bookstore and full-service Cafe Komo Mai that serves everything from banana nut muffins to Starbucks coffee.
Christian radio station KLHT 1040 AM will also move from the old downtown location to a new space beneath the bookstore.
The entire project cost $10.5 million, all of which came from what Arcalas calls a "faithful and consistent giving by the people." The church has about 1,500 members.
Five years ago Calvary Chapel bought the property next to Newtown Estates, which was overrun with California grass and haole koa, after searching for a location close to town.
"We were looking for a place from town toward this area to still be centralized," Arcalas said.
Though some members lived near the downtown location, Arcalas said no one has complained about the drive to 'Aiea.
"We have members from everywhere," said Arcalas, who lives in Hawai'i Kai. "It's not a problem."
Member Gloria Uyehara said she doesn't mind the extra 20-minute drive to church.
"It's exciting to be part of this new place," said Uyehara, a 53-year-old legal secretary who lives near downtown. "Everyone was really close (at the other location) because of the space. But we've brought that here."
The church broke ground in January 2003, building the one thing it didn't have downtown: parking.
Since 1988, Calvary had held services in the former Empress Theater, which didn't have any parking. Churchgoers had to pay for parking in nearby lots. Now Calvary boasts about 150 stalls, with additional parking to come once an open dirt lot is converted into a grassy field.
But the first thing on the church's agenda for the new location was to build a Christian-based school.
The Calvary Chapel Christian School is expected to open on Sept. 7 with about 150 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Arcalas, who will also serve as principal for the school, is hoping to expand the school up to eighth grade with a capacity of 250 students.
Tuition will be $5,500 a school year, which runs from early September to late May.
"We are supporting Christian parents who want their children to grow in the knowledge of God's word and biblical truths," Arcalas said. "This has been part of the vision all along."
Though parents had asked the church to build a school before, its 8,000-square-foot location in downtown wasn't big enough. It didn't even have a playground area for the kids in Sunday school.
Now Calvary can offer its congregation a place for every aspect of worship, from a Christian-based grade school to a cafe spacious enough for relaxing fellowship, Arcalas said.
"We even have a view of Pearl Harbor," he said. "I'm really excited."
For more information about Calvary Chapel Christian School, call 524-0844.
Reach Catherine E. Toth at 535-8103 or ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.
