Around 100 members of the West Java Islam Reformist Movement drove away members of the HKBP Bethania congregation in Rancaekek Wetan village in Bandung on Sunday.

The crackdown was reportedly carried out because the HKBP congregation were believed to be conducting their service at a house that was not licensed to host church services.

“This is not a church but a house. So this violates the joint ministerial decree [on houses of worship],” Suryana Nurfatwa, the leader of the group, said.

The congregation were 15 minutes into their service when the hardliners came, driving them away under tight police security.

The disruption caused panic among church members, especially women and children who were seen crying and holding each other. The men were forced to pushed their motorcycles a distance before starting them up.

No place to worship: Members of Huria Kristen Batak Protestan Bethania church congregation leave a house they used as a church in Bandung, West Java, on Sunday after a group of Islamic militants forcibly dispersed their regular Sunday service citing a lack of an official permit. JP/Arya Dipa

A church elder was seen leaving the house carrying a keyboard instrument.

“We bowed down to what they [the hardliners] demanded. Our service was shortened,” Lintina, one of the church members, said.

The house belongs to the HKBP Bethania and had been used to hold service for the 450 church members every Sunday.

Badia Hutagalung, a church member, said the congregation had held church services at the house since 1999.

Church elders said they had applied for a license to use the location as a church, as well as requested permission from local residents and the neighborhood community head, but failed. At the same time, the size of the congregation continued to grow.

The 2006 joint ministerial decree drafted by the Religious Affairs Ministry and Home Ministry on houses of worship and religious ceremonies stipulates that those wishing to establish a house of worship must get signatures from at least 90 church members and 60 residents from other religions living in the area.

“We worked hard to get a license, but failed. We want to meet with local councilors and the new Bandung mayor,” Carlos Simatupang, a church elder, said.

Rancaekek district head Meman Nurjaman urged the HKBP Bethania church to take up his suggestion that the church hold their services together with other churches at the State Administration Institute (IPDN)  complex in Jatinangor in Sumedang regency.

“I highly recommend they use the IPDN facility,” he said.

Badia, however, said this was not feasible because each church had different ways of conducting their services. “Accepting the district head’s suggestion would mean shutting down our church,” he said.

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