This early example of a Hawaiian-style church blends classical elements with such regional vocabulary as the double-pitched hipped roof and wraparound lanai. Sited on a promontory, the church features a round-arched portico and fanlight-topped entrance. Clapboard siding and figure-four brackets, reminiscent of bungalow and Arts and Crafts traditions, complement the Hawaiian style. Double doorways along both sides of the lanai provide indoor-outdoor access as well as cross ventilation.

In 1936, approximately 66 percent of Hoolehua's population was Mormon, a result of the church's encouragement of its members to homestead. The LDS congregation abandoned this building in the 1960s, when it relocated to a more modern edifice in Kalamaula. In recent years, the Baptist church enclosed one side of the wraparound lanai to obtain more office space.