Al-Akbar National Mosque in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia. (Lasthib, Creative Commons)

SURABAYA, Indonesia (Morning Star News) – Muslim residents of a village in East Java Province, Indonesia have pressured officials into halting a church’s use of its building, claiming worship services there could cause social tension, sources said.

The church held worship services in a traditional Indonesian prayer house, which requires no permits, but residents of the Sukalipuro area of Dermo village, Bangil District, Pasuruan Regency, on July 20 pressured regency officials to halt services there of the East Java Christian Church (GKJW), rights advocates said.

Muslim residents argued that the building held no official permits, stood close to a small Muslim prayer hall (mushala) and was located in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood, conditions they said could trigger social tensions.

Rights advocates and area sources said that opposition also may be rooted in resentment over the church acquiring the venue through a bank auction after its former owner or heirs were unable to repay a bank loan.

Representatives of Sukalipuro residents on July 20 met with some members of the Pasuruan Regency Legislative Council to object to the GKJW using the prayer house, saying the building had originally been a residence and was later used for Christian worship, according to the council’s website, setwandprd.pasuruankab.go.

Residents questioned the building’s permit status and claimed that its use as a worship venue had not been adequately communicated to the surrounding community, Surabaya.kompas reported.

Bangil District Head Eddy Santoso, however, said the local government had facilitated seven mediation meetings between residents and the church since 2023. The latest meeting on May 22 reportedly included residents, church administrators and a pastor; its results were submitted to Pasuruan’s National and Political Unity Agency.

Before the May 22 meeting, the Bangil District head held a meeting with residents and church leadership in which council member Najib Setiawan said the establishment and use of a house of worship should comply with prevailing regulations. He urged authorities to examine the legality of the prayer house and called on the congregation not to hold worship services there while the matter was being addressed, Faktapasuruan.com. reported.

A church pastor identified only Teguh said the house began to be used for prayers in April after the church received oral permission from a Pasuruan regent.

The congregation, said to consist of about 60 Christian families with roots in the area going back to the 1950s, had long lacked ownership of its own worship venue. For decades, the congregation reportedly rented a Protestant Church of Western Indonesia (Gereja Protestan Indonesia Barat, GPIB) site in Bangil, a small town near Pasuruan city.

The congregation reportedly purchased the Sukalipuro building through a BRI bank auction, used it initially for non-worship church activities, and only later began holding limited prayer gatherings there, faktapasuruan.com. reported.

In the face of residents’ opposition, the Pasuruan Inter-Church Consultative Body subsequently on July 28 issued a letter ordering GKJW Bangil to temporarily halt worship activities at the Sukalipuro prayer house. The call drew criticism from civil-society groups and Christian organizations, which argued that an administrative dispute should not result in suspension of religious worship.

Arnold L. Panjaitan, chair of the East Java provincial board of the Indonesian Christian Youth Movement (Gerakan Angkatan Muda Kristen Indonesia, GAMKI), expressed regret over the halt.

“We deeply regret that a prayer house used by believers for worship has had to stop its activities,” Arnold said, according to gamki.or.id. “Freedom of worship is the right of every citizen, guaranteed by the constitution. Therefore, this right must be respected, protected and guaranteed in its implementation.”

Criticism also came from the East Java Anti-Discrimination Islamic Network (JIAD), which stressed the importance of tolerance, due process and the constitutional protection of religious freedom. 

Tension over Purchase

Brigade Gus Dur, a Muslim youth group inspired by the late Indonesian president and Nahdlatul Ulama leader Abdurrahman Wahid, widely known as Gus Dur, on July 30 held a discussion with rights advocates, Non-Governmental Organization representatives, journalists and legal practitioners.

Muhammad Muslimin, head of the Pasuruan’s Brigade Gus Dur, said the forum had found indications that the controversy involved resentment over the house’s previous ownership.

“There appears to be sentiment related to the house now used as a place of worship,” he said, according to Faktapasuruan.com. “In the background, there are heirs who feel that their asset was pledged to a bank, could not be redeemed, was auctioned, and then bought by another party. There may be hurt feelings that were later turned into an issue.”

A GKJW figure identified only as Genuk said opposition intensified after the church began using the building for prayer and worship, including during Easter. She reportedly said the congregation had conducted worship only on a limited basis, once or twice a month.

Indonesia’s 1945 Constitution protects freedom of religion and worship, but construction and formal establishment of houses of worship are governed by the 2006 Joint Ministerial Regulation-Religious Affairs Ministerial Regulation No. 9/2006 and Home Affairs Ministerial Regulation No. 8/2006. It requires a list of at least 90 prospective worshippers and support from at least 60 local residents, alongside recommendations from the local Religious Affairs Office and the Interfaith Harmony Forum (Forum Kerja Sama Umat Beragama, FKUB).

The regulation also contains provisions concerning temporary use of a non-worship building as a worship venue and assigns local governments a role in mediating disputes.

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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