This past July 18, 2021, the General Synod of the United Church of Christ passed a resolution “Encouraging to End 128 years of War between the United States of America and the Hawaiian Kingdom.” The resolution was introduced by the Association of Hawaiian Evangelical Churches (AHEC). Pastor Wendell Davis is the head of AHEC as the Papa Makua.

AHEC is an association of 30 native Hawaiian protestant churches and 6 partnerships that include, as partnership ministries, the State Sunday School Association, Pacific Justice and Reconciliation, Kamehameha Schools, State Council of Hawaiian Congregational Churches, Christian Endeavor Hawai‘i, and the Pacific Islander & Asian American Ministries.

AHEC is a successor of the ‘Ahahui ‘Euanelio o Hawai‘i, also known as the Hawaiian Evangelical Association, that was established in 1854 in the Hawaiian Kingdom. Well known churches such as Kawaiaha‘o and Kaumakapili are members of AHEC. The resolution

“calls upon all settings of the church, denomination officers, conferences, associations, and congregations to live into the 1993 Apology of the United Church of Christ delivered to the Native Hawaiian people by President Paul Sherry.”

“call[s] upon the United Church of Christ’s General Counsel’s office to listen to and consider recommendations from the Association of Hawaiian Evangelical Churches, other Native Hawaiian organizations and Native Hawaiian voices drafting communications to local, national and international leaders and organizations calling for compliance with international humanitarian law and an end to the illegal occupation of the Hawaiian Islands.”

“reaffirm its commitment to stand alongside and in support of the efforts of Native Hawaiians to seek redress and restitution for the war crimes of the US against the Hawaiian Kingdom including, but not limited to, the crime of denationalization.”

In its first communication to local leaders, AHEC sent a certified letter to State of Hawai‘i Governor David Ige on February 23, 2022, stating:

[W]e support the National Lawyers Guild’s letter to you dated November 10, 2020, urging you, as Governor,

[T]o proclaim the transformation of the State of Hawai‘i and its Counties into an occupying government pursuant to the Council of Regency’s proclamation of June 3, 2019, in order to administer the laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom. This would include carrying into effect the Council of Regency’s proclamation of October 10, 2014 that bring the laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom in the nineteenth century up to date. We further urge you and other officials of the State of Hawai‘i and its Counties to familiarize yourselves with the contents of the recent eBook published by the [Royal Commission of Inquiry] and its reports that comprehensively explains the current situation of the Hawaiian Islands and the impact that international humanitarian law and human rights law have on the State of Hawai‘i and its inhabitants.