[1] The congregation was first founded in 1820 by Asa and Lucy Goodale Thurston, from the first ship of American Christian Missionaries, the brig Thaddeus.

In October 1823, they learned that the people of Kailua-Kona had developed an interest in the new ways and had erected a small wooden church.

[3] The first structure on the site was made from Ohiʻa wood and a thatched roof, on land obtained from Royal Governor Kuakini across the street from his Huliheʻe Palace.

The name moku ʻaikaua literally means "district acquired by war" in the Hawaiian language,[4] probably after the upland forest area where the wood was obtained.

[8] On October 3, 1978, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings on the island of Hawaii as site number 78001015.