Pastor Novel Pangemanan in video call with rights group about April 14, 2026 halt to construction of prayer house in Kappuna village, North Luwu Regency, Indonesia. (Screenshot from Tanparagi video)
SURABAYA, Indonesia (Morning Star News) – Local officials in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia on April 14 halted construction of a prayer house due to protest banners put up by Muslim residents.
The move left unused building materials scattered on the site owned by Pastor Novel Pangemanan of the El-Saddai Fellowship Church in Kappuna village, Masamba District, North Luwu Regency. In Indonesia, a prayer house is a structure distinct from a church building.
In a video posted on the same day by the Sahabat Doa Ministry, the pastor, voice trembling with emotion while holding the fence columns, described the scene:
“Today, my congregation and I agreed to build a fence around the land. However, the Kappuna village government and Masamba District Government ordered us to temporarily halt the project. So, we stopped working. Thank you, Lord Jesus, bless you.”
The clip, which has garnered thousands of views, shows piles of bricks, cement, and rebar abandoned under the tropical sun.
The halt to the house of prayer construction stems from banners rejecting the project proclaiming, “We, all Muslims, strongly reject the establishment of a church/prayer house or any activities in our neighborhood in Kappuna village, Masamba District, Luwu Utara Regency [North Luwu].”
The issue gained traction after Instagram user @davidherson_official shared details on April 14 amplifying concerns and calls for intervention.
“I will not back down or stop the construction,” Pastor Pangemanan said on the Sahabat Doa Ministry video. “Besides having all the necessary documents, I also have reported the construction of this prayer house to the relevant authorities. Building a prayer house does not require a permit. We simply have to report it to the relevant authorities.”
The pastor, who has been serving the area congregation since 2021, said he had communicated plans for a house of prayer to various stakeholders.
“I’ll of course take care of the paperwork if I build a church,” he said. “What I’m building is what I call a house of prayer.”
Before the groundbreaking ceremony of the prayer house, all the main local leaders were informed and present, Pastor Pangemanan said.
“I informed the regent, the Chief of Resort Police, the Department of Religious Affairs, the Military District Commander, the Chief of Sector Police, and the village head before the groundbreaking,” he said in the video. “The local government was present at the time. The regent was supposed to be present but due to the flight delay, the deputy regent was present.”
He pointed to the wooden frame of the building, which appeared to be decaying after more than five months of stalled construction.
Residents have demanded construction be halted and urged him to meet with the regent of North Luwu last Nov. 5.
“On Nov. 5, 2025, I was ordered to stop construction,” the pastor said. “Several residents and the village head asked me to stop. I didn’t want to force my way, and we didn’t want anything bad to happen, so I met with the regent that evening. The regent said, ‘Don’t demolish the current prayer house construction.’ So we didn’t demolish it.”
Pastor Pangemanan purchased the 20-meter by 30-meter land legally, and supporters argue the project complies with national laws distinguishing between formal “houses of worship” and smaller prayer houses used in private residences.
Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy to the executive director of the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, a Jakarta-based group advocating for democracy and freedom, voiced shock at the intervention.
“The construction of a prayer house does not require permits from government officials or the surrounding community,” he told Morning Star News.
Referring to the Ministers of Home Affairs and Religious Affairs Joint Regulations No. 8 and No. 9 of 2006, he said, the regulations speak nothing about houses of prayer.
“The two ministerial regulations completely fail to clarify the requirements for establishing a house of prayer as a private residence. They only address the issue of establishing a house of worship,” Bonar said. “However, narrow-minded and shallow groups arbitrarily equate a house of prayer with a church or a house of worship. Even more mistaken, they assume that Christian worship is only held in a church, not in a private home or house of prayer.”
The Makassar Branch of the Indonesian Christian Student Movement (GMKI) condemned the interference as exclusion of certain groups from Indonesian cultural/religious life.
“We strongly condemn all forms of intolerance….and consider such actions contrary to humanitarian values, social justice, and the spirit of diversity,” leaders of the GMKI said in a statement, according to ruminews.id. “We urge the local government and law enforcement officials to act firmly and fairly and not bow to pressure from certain groups.”
The incident echoes longstanding tensions in South Sulawesi, a hotspot for religious friction. North Luwu, predominantly Muslim with Christian pockets from Dutch colonial-era migrations, has seen similar disputes.
Data from the advocacy group Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace (ICRP) recorded more than 40 incidents of religious intolerance in Sulawesi island in 2025, many of which involved banner protests urging local officials to take action.
A 2025 Wahid Foundation survey found 62 percent of Indonesians support restricting minority worship sites in Muslim-majority areas, fueled by social media amplification of local grievances. In South Sulawesi, where Muslims make up 88 percent of the 9 million residents according to Statistics Indonesia, Christian communities (about 8 percent) often face informal vetoes despite constitutional protections under Article 29 of the Indonesian constitution.
The case highlights Indonesia’s delicate interfaith balance following the 2024 elections, during which religious rhetoric intensified. With the 2026 local elections approaching, analysts suggest that officials may prioritize securing votes over upholding rights.
Indonesian society in recent years has adopted a more conservative Islamic character, and churches involved in evangelistic outreach are at risk of being targeted by Islamic extremist groups, according to Open Doors.
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