Muslim Groups Demand Closure of Large, Legal Church

Hundreds of Muslims from outside the area where a 600-member church
meets in West Java, Indonesia, staged a protest there to call for its closure this month in
an attempt to portray local opposition.

Demonstrators
from 16 Islamic organizations, including the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front
(FPI), gathered on Feb. 15 to demand a stop to all activities by the Galilea
Protestant Church (GPIB) in the Galaxy area of Bekasi City.

The Rev. M.
Tetelepta, pastor of the church, told Compass that the church has had the
required consent of local residents and official permission to worship since its
inception in 1992.

“From the
beginning we had permission to worship from both the government and the nearby
residents,” Tetelepta said. “We worked on the building permit and had received
principle clearance from the mayor of Bekasi. We had also received permission
from the Bekasi Interfaith Harmony Forum.”

At the Galaxy
area demonstration, FPI Bekasi branch head Murhali Baeda tried to impugn the
legal status of the Galilea church by telling ANTARA, the official news agency
of the Indonesian government, that he was “certain” that “a number of the church
buildings” in the area “do not have complete permission.”

“This is proved
by the large number of posters and banners that are displayed in the alleys and
public gathering places rejecting the presence of these [church] buildings,”
Murhali told ANTARA.

A Joint
Ministerial Decree promulgated in 1969 and revised in 2006 requires the
permission of more than 60 neighbors and a permit from local authorities to
establish a place of worship in Indonesia.

Representatives
of Islamic organizations at the demonstration shouted, “Churches are not allowed
in Galaxy” and carried posters and banners declaring, “We Faithful Muslims
Reject the Presence of Churches,” as well as “Beware of Christianization of
Galaxy.”

Local
organizations represented at the demonstration included the Bekasi Dakwah
Council, the Bina An Nisa Dakwah Council of Bekasi and the Galaxy Mosque and
Mushola Forum, but Tetelepta said he was sure that 95 percent of the protestors
were not local people. 

Also present at
the demonstration were representatives of the Islamic Youth and Student Forum,
Islamic Unity, the Committee to Enact Syariah (Law), Muhammadiyah, the Islamic
Youth Movement, the Syariah Concern Society, the Islamic Youth Federation, the
Bungin Dakwah Council, the Gembong River Society, Irene Centre and the
Indonesian Mujahadin Council.

Baeda of the FPI
accused the church of “Christianizing” local residents by distributing food “and
the nine essentials at a reduced price.”

“The church is
distributing these things as incentive to confess Jesus as their Lord,” Baeda
told Compass. “We have received several reports of this from people who have
accepted these distributions.”

This type of
activity disturbs society, he added. “I consider this
wrong-doing.”

The local FPI
leader told ANTARA that there are at least six churches and a number of homes
that function as churches.

“At night
praises to their God in the form of songs disturbs the people’s sleep,” he
reportedly said.

Tetelepta denied
that the church had tried to “Christianize” people.

“We have never
distributed food or the nine essentials,” he said. “The only thing we have done
is to spray for mosquitoes near the church.”

Before coming to
Galaxy the congregation had worshipped in various places in Bekasi. At the
suggestion of the government, Tetelepta said, the church purchased the property
in Galaxy in 2006 in order to construct a worship place.

He added that
there has been an effort to discredit the church in the Bekasi
area. 

“Our worship
services will continue as usual in spite of the demonstrations,” he said. “We
are coordinating things with the police.”