Gereja Injili di Tanah Jawa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
GITJ (Gereja Injili di Tanah Jawa or Javanese Mennonite Church) is one of three Mennonite-related church synods in Indonesia (see GKMI).
Contents |
[edit] Location
Its member congregations are concentrated in the Mount Muria area along the coast of north Central Java in Indonesia, although there are congregations in a few other cities like Semarang, Salatiga and Yoyakarta and the provinces of Lampung and South Sumatra. The Muria area juts into the Java Sea east of Semarang, the capital of Central Java, and is dominated by Mount Muria, an ancient, now extinct volcano. GITJ is a member of PGI (Persekutuan Gereja-gereeja di Indonesia, the Fellowship of Christian Churches of Indonesia. It is also member of the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) and Asian Mennonite Conference (AMC).
[edit] Origins
Three streams of church life flow together in the life of GITJ. The first of these is the influence of the Dutch Mennonite Mission formed in Holland in 1847, which sent its first missionary in 1851. The first Mennonite mission congregation in the Dutch East Indies (today Indonesia) was formed in the coastal town of Jepara at the western foot of Mount Muria when the first believers there were baptized in 1854 by Dutch Mennonite missionary Pieter Jansz. Pasrah Karso became an important early Javanese leader of this church, leading in the formation of what is presently the oldest congregation in Kedungpenjalin.
The second stream is represented by a Reformed congregation begun in Kayuapu at the southern foot of Mount Muria under the auspices of Dutch Reformed missionary Hoezoo. Pasrah Noeriman was an important Javanese leader in Kayuapu. This congregation 45 years later was turned over to the care of the Dutch Mennonite Mission.
The third stream is a large, powerful indigenous Javanese Christian movement under the leadership of Ibrahim Tunggul Wulung. Tunggul Wulung was a scion of the royal family of Solo in Central Java who became a hermit mystic on Mount Kelut in East Java. From there, through an interesting series of events he became a Christian believer who identified himself as a Kristen Jowo (Javanese Christian) who sought to retain Javanese language, culture and folkways, in contrast to a Kristen Londo (Dutch Christian) who tended to mimic European ways. This indigenous movement grew much more rapidly than the Christian groups begun by European missionaries.
Eventually all three of these streams were united into one family of congregations who were served by missionaries from Netherlands, Russia, and later Germany and Switzerland. Finally the outbreak of World War II, which precipitated the arrest by the Dutch colonial government of the two German missionaries, precipitated the organization of these churches into an independent synod called Patunggilan Para Pasamuan Kristen Toto Injil ing Wengkon Pati, Kudus lan Jepara (literally Union of Gospel Patterned Christian Congregations in the area of Pati, Kudus and Jepara). The 13 or so congregations at that time consisted of about 5000 baptized members. The mission also had several hospitals and many schools. The Japanese occupation 1942-45 brought with it terrible suffering, followed by more suffering in the late forties during the time of the Indonesian struggle for freedom from Dutch colonial rule.
[edit] Recent activity
Free Indonesia provided opportunity for the churches to develop and grow, though not without struggle. Eventually, with renewed help from Europeans and now also North Americans sent by Mennonite Central Committee they were able to resurrect one of the mission hospitals and reopen many schools and start others, including one, and later a second, theological school in Pati. The church grew very rapidly, though in a predominately Islamic context. In the nineties the synod suffered from a schism, which after several years was healed. Now the GITJ Synod consists of 100 mature congregations, many congregations in formation and some 40,000 baptized members.
[edit] References
- "Gereja Injili di Tanah Java" in MENNONITE ENCYCLOPEDIA vol. V, pp. 333-338.
