Churches in Indonesia: How do they differ, really?
Five years ago, I decided to break away from the Chinese-Indonesian Christian bubble by enrolling as an undergraduate student at a local public university. One of the most common questions directed at me was:
“What are the differences between [Insert Church Name Here] and [Insert Another Church Name Here]?”
As a fan of both history and theology, I tend to give a long answer with unnecessary details. Four years later, I have learned how to answer that in a way that an average person can bear to digest; and hence, this article.
You can get a short but comprehensive view of any given church once you can answer these four questions:
- Whether they belong to the Western or Eastern tradition of Christianity
- From which family of tradition they stem
- How the church is governed
- How they view the bible
1. Western or Eastern?
It is almost always West. Unless you are asking about the Eastern Orthodox Church (here, Gereja Orthodox Indonesia), then East.
As a former Dutch colony, Indonesia was almost exclusively introduced to Christianity by Dutchmen, who belonged — and still belong — to the Western tradition.
Once, there was the only church, ruled by five popes in a huge empire called the Roman Empire. At some point, barbarians launched an invasion, successfully dividing the empire to two. The church was still one at this point, but contact between the geographically western and eastern side of the empire was significantly reduced. As a result, both sides began to develop with their own local identity.
Some five hundred years later, the church officially severed their ties. Today, Eastern Christianity generally dominates over Western Christianity only in Middle Eastern and Eastern European countries.
2. Which family within the West (or East)?
Within the Western tradition, there are two big groups: Roman Catholic and Protestant.
In Indonesia, Roman Catholic is pretty uniform, therefore further classification is not necessary, though the same might not apply to countries with Catholic majority.
Moving along to Protestants, this is where things start to get exciting.
Another five hundred years after the Eastern-Western separation of the church, the Roman Catholic Church started selling forgiveness of sins for money. A German priest protested — hence the name — then created his own church, inspiring other guys to do the same to date. Hence, we have multiple big families of Protestants (the following list is not exhaustive, but definitely sufficient for common folks):
Lutheran
The OG of all Protestants. Founded by a Martin Luther, the German priest. The basic idea of the protest, the Protestant Reformation, is: to hell with the Pope, read the bible yourself and submit only to Jesus, not the Catholic Church.
Signature
The church’s altar looks like the Catholic Church the most, compared to other Protestant churches. Mostly Batak people.
Example
Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (HKBP); Gereja Kristen Protestan Indonesia (GKPI)
Calvinist
Started by a Frenchman called John Calvin, who felt that Luther had not gone radical enough against the Catholic Church. Hence, he wrote a crazy thick book to detail out new doctrines which is commonly known as The Institutes of Christian Religion.
Signature
No altar, instead a pulpit is at the center. They have longer sermon to indicate that the Word of God is way more important than Catholic traditions.
Example
Gereja Kristen Jawa (GKJ); Gereja Kristus Yesus (GKY); Gereja Reformed Injili Indonesia (GRII)
Anabaptist
Baptism is the formal ceremony where a person is officially recognized as a member of a church. The Catholic Church, along with other older Protestants, still baptized babies. Anabaptists reject such practice, claiming that babies and children are not old enough to profess their faith. As a result, historically they were persecuted by both Catholics and Protestants.
Signature
No signature because the organizations belonging to this family are way too diverse.
Example
Gereja Kristen Muria Indonesia (GKMI); Jemaat Kristen Indonesia (JKI)
Anglican
King Henry VIII of England wanted a divorce. The Pope said no. “OK,” said King Henry VIII, “I’ll just create my own national church then.” He named it the Church of England and later remarried five times.
Signature
They have bishops, like the Catholic Church, with Archbishop of Canterbury being the Pope. Very liberal though, because theology is generally not a bigger concern than national identity. (Did I forget to tell you that their co-head is Queen Elizabeth II?)
Example
Gereja Anglikan Jakarta
Baptist
Some Englishmen were dissatisfied with the Church of England, claiming it did not do enough reform from the Catholic Church. They believed that a baptism by immersion (in opposition to sprinkling or affusion) to adults is the only acceptable form of baptism. They are similar to Anabaptism, but not stemming from it.
Signature
Looks like a traditional church, but the liturgy (rundown of events in a service) is not as rigid as that of Lutheran or Calvinist.
Example
Gabungan Gereja Baptis Indonesia, GKBJ (Gereja Kristen Baptis Jakarta)
Methodist
A Church of England priest named John Wesley started a religious movement which obliged its members to follow a strict religious routine. He remained in the church, but his followers broke away from Church of England after his death.
Signature
In Indonesia, most adherents are Sumatrans, even more so Chinese Sumatrans. Looks like a Calvinist church, but they differ in explaining how someone can be saved through Jesus. (Very theological, you can google “Calvinism vs Arminianism” if you are interested.)
Example
Gereja Methodist Indonesia (GMI); Gereja Kristen Wesley Indonesia (GKWI)
Pentecostal
In the beginning of the 20th century, a pastor of a Methodist church in the United States claimed to receive a supernatural gift of speaking in gibberish, yet Heavenly, language. The church members had different opinion on its validity, hence some of them broke away from the church, creating a Pentecostalism movement.
Signature
When you attend their service, you hear people raising their hands, crying, and speaking random syllables out loud. The elder pastors once believed (or, still believes) that watching TV was a sin and that movie theaters were dangerous because they lacked the presence of God the Holy Spirit.
Example
Gereja Pantekosta di Indonesia (GPdI); Gereja Mawar Sharon (GMS)
Non-denominational
Too much already? Some Christians in mid-20th century United States agreed. They then created churches which refused to be associated with any Christian traditions.
Signature
Megachurches. Loud music, full band. Filled with young people.
Example
Gereja Kristus Di Indonesia (GKDI); International Full Gospel Fellowship (IFGF)
Revivalist
As if non-denominational churches are not cool enough, revivalist churches have their distinct flavor of Christianity which comes from new teachings aside from the bible, instead of new interpretations out of it.
Signature
Uncommon doctrines not found elsewhere but that specific church, e.g. that drinking caffeine is a sin, that Jesus is not God, that polygamy is allowed.
Example
Gereja Masehi Advent Hari Ketujuh (Adventist), Gereja Yesus Kristus dari Orang-orang Suci Zaman Akhir (Mormon), Balai Kerajaan Saksi-saksi Yehuwah (Jehovah Witnesses)
As for churches within the Eastern tradition, separation exists between Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodox Church. The nature of this separation is mainly historical, due to linguistic differences. Gereja Orthodox Indonesia belongs to Eastern Orthodox Church. In Indonesia, there also exists a small religious community with ties to Syrian Orthodox Church (a church under the Oriental Orthodox Church umbrella).
3. Who governs the church?
There are three possible ways to govern a church: episcopal, presbyterian, and congregational. However, it is also possible to have a combination of the three.
Episcopal
The governance is basically hierarchical with a supreme head of the church, who would usuallyhold that office indefinitely until he dies or resigns. The possible titles of the head include: the Pope, Archbishop, Primate, Patriarch, Metropolitan, and Ecumenical Patriarch. Under the supreme head, there are lower offices which are usually divided by regions; then more lower offices with smaller areas.
Example
Roman Catholic Church (Western, Catholic), Eastern Orthodox Church (Eastern, Eastern Orthodox), Gereja Methodist Indonesia (Western, Protestant — Methodist)
Presbyterian
Every local church is led by a group of elders. A group of local churches (presbytery) is led by another group of elders. A group of presbyteries (synod) is led by another group of elders. The structure goes on, but the main point is: leadership is communal, based on election, and its office term is limited.
Example
Gereja Kristen Indonesia (Western, Protestant — Calvinist), Gereja Isa Almasih (Western, Protestant — Pentecostal)
Congregational
Every local church is independent and sovereign by itself.
Example
Gabungan Gereja Baptis Indonesia (Western, Protestant — Baptist)
Hybrid
Example of presbyterian-congregational: Gereja Sidang-sidang Jemaat Allah (Western, Protestant — Pentecostal)
Example of episcopal-congregational: Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (Western, Protestant — Lutheran)
4. What is the bible to them?
One of the core principles Martin Luther fought for during the Protestant Reformation was Sola Scriptura, or “only (from) the bible.” This was caused by the Roman Catholic Church claiming that verbal apostolic tradition, which had been passed down from generation to generation, was as authoritative as the bible. At the bare minimum, we can identify a church based on whether the bible is valued over other documents or traditions.
Non-sola scriptura
These churches believe that the Holy Tradition is as authoritative as the bible as a source of truth for believers.
Example
Roman Catholic Church (Western, Catholic, Episcopal); Gereja Masehi Advent Hari Ketujuh (Western, Protestant — Revivalist, Presbyterian-episcopal)
Prima scriptura
These churches believe that the bible is the ultimate source of truth, but there are cases where the bible is silent, therefore other source of truth is needed.
Example
Gereja Sidang-sidang Jemaat Allah (Western, Protestant — Pentecostal, Presbyterian-congregational); Gereja Methodist Indonesia (Western, Protestant — Methodist, Episcopal)
Sola scriptura
These churches believe that the bible is the ultimate and only source of truth for Christians.
Example
Gereja Kristus Yesus (Western, Protestant — Calvinist, Presbyterian); Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (Western, Protestant — Lutheran, Episcopal-congregational)
Within churches which hold either prima scriptura or sola scriptura, further distinction exists with regards to how the bible should be interpreted. Among Protestant churches, this matter is sometimes just as significant as its family of tradition (Point #2).
Fundamentalist
The bible is to be interpreted literally, word-by-word. This group is statistically insignificant in Indonesia.
Signature
Believes in seven-day creation. Anti-modern science. Fiercely rejects non-traditional form of worship, and even contemporary music in general.
Example
Gereja Baptis Independen Alkitabiah (Western, Protestant — Baptist, Congregational, Sola scriptura)
Evangelical
The bible is the written Word of God, divinely inspired, and free from errors on anything. However, its interpretation need not to be strictly literal. In Indonesia, churches with historical root tracing to newer (post-1900s) Chinese immigrants, hence having a bilingual Chinese-Bahasa Indonesia worship today, almost always belong to this group.
Signature
Focuses on new believers conversion rate, mentions the slogan “born again” frequently, holds public spiritual awakening service (KKR, or kebaktian kebangunan rohani). Socially conservative and exclusive. Most believes in seven-day creation and rejects the big bang theory.
Example
Gereja Kristus Yesus (Western, Protestant — Calvinist, Presbyterian, Sola scriptura)
Liberal / Ecumenical
The bible contains written Word of God, divinely inspired, and infallible in matters of theology. It is not to be interpreted literally, instead, additional tools should be considered, such as: science, modern knowledge, ethics, and context.
Signature
Believes in modern science. Tends to be inclusive (e.g. accepting sexual minorities).
Example
Gereja Kristen Indonesia (Western, Protestant — Calvinist, Presbyterian, Sola scriptura)
Quiz
Now let’s take some of the most popular churches in Indonesia and try to guess their classification as an exercise:
- Jakarta Praise Community Church (JPCC)
- Gereja Bethel Indonesia (GBI)
- Gereja Protestan Indonesia bagian Barat (GPIB)
(You can find the answer at the bottom of this article)
Key takeaways
Long, huh? That’s okay, not even most Christians ourselves understand these distinctions. Today you have learned:
- Christianity in Indonesia retains heavy influence from the West
- Even churches in doctrinal agreement can be organizationally separate
- As much as Christians try to build a divider between religion and politics, the reciprocal influence between the two is still visible
[Answer]
- Western, Protestant — Anabaptist, Congregationalist, Sola scriptura — Evangelical
- Western, Protestant — Pentecostal, Congregationalist, Prima scriptura — Evangelical
- Western, Protestant — Calvinist, Presbyterian, Sola scriptura — Liberal
