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In 'santri' country, a long-standing church thrives
Venerable: Mojowarno church has stood on this spot for 133 years
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Venerable: Mojowarno church has stood on this spot for 133 years.
An abundance of Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) in Jombang has given it a reputation as a city of santri, or devout Muslims.
Pesantren Tebuireng, for example, founded by the ancestors of the late Abdurrahman 'Gus Dur' Wahid, Indonesia's fourth president, is in Jombang.
The city is also home to an important piece of Christian history in the province: the East Java Christian Church (GKJW), better known as Mojowarno church, named after the village where it was built in 1879.
'This is virtually the oldest church in East Java,' Rev. Wimbo Santjoko, 46, said. 'As a historic building, this church has been included in the cultural heritage category.'
According to the Archeological Heritage Conservation Center in Mojokerto, East Java, in 2008, Christianity was introduced to the region by a follower of the famed Yogyakarta Prince Diponegoro named Ditotruno, who with 55 supporters cleared the forests of Keracil.
Ditotruno worked with Coenraad Laurens Coolen, a Christian man of mixed Russian and Javanese descent who was a forestry inspector for the Dutch colonizers.
In 1827, Coolen resigned and sought to open the forest in Ngoro, south of Jombang, with the help of Ditotruno.
'Kiai Ditotruno, after being baptized, was named Kiai Abisai Ditotruno, who finally reclaimed the forest and built Mojowarno,' Wimbo said.
Keracil first took its name from kecacil, or the fruit of the kesambi (lac) tree. Believed to be haunted, the forest was later called Danyangan, which became Dagangan (trade) once the area became a commercial crossroads.
As the number of Christians in the area rose, the village was called Mojowarno.
'Mojo refers to its proximity to the ruins of the Majapahit kingdom, warno [color] implies its numerous visitors and settlers of diverse socio-cultural backgrounds,' said the clergyman, who has served the Mojowarno congregation for four years.
A missionary named Jelle Eeltjes Jellesma arrived, setting up the Cadre School to train local missionaries in East Java. Pauloes Tosari was the school's first locally ordained minister.
Seeing a growing flock, Pauloes asked permission from the Dutch to build a new church in 1871, raising about 6,000 guilders from local converts who sold their rice fields.
Money for the project also came from the Dutch governor general and the Indies Council, while a church bell was donated by the Peace Fund for the Cross and an organ given by the Surabaya Protestant Christian Assembly.
The first stone was laid by in 1879. The church was opened in 1881.
With its architect unknown, GKJW Mojowarno is characterized by Dutch architecture with large windows tapering to pointed tips and a bell tower, all remaining in solid condition today.
The church fuses colonial and local traditions. For example, there is a gamelan to the right of the pulpit to accompany mass, while the facade is adorned by Bible verses in Javanese.
According to Wimbo, services are conducted in Indonesian in the morning, in Javanese at noon and again in Indonesian in the afternoon.
On Christmas and Easter, Javanese services are accompanied by a gamelan. The faithful are clad in traditional Javanese dress and bear Javanese-language editions of the Bible.
'This atmosphere makes visitors to Mojowarno leave the church with a deep longing for another stay in the village, particularly during the Christmas celebration,' Wimbo said.
The Mojowarno congregation, which comprises about 1,000 families, survives because of good relations with the Muslim community.
Gus Dur's widow, Sinta Nuriyah, for example, held a pre-dawn meal during Ramadhan in 2013 in the churchyard attended by members of the congregation, poor people and orphans.
Through the GKJW Health Foundation, the church runs the Mojowarno Christian Hospital across the road. Serving the general public, the hospital was opened on June 6, 1984; while the Christian Education Foundation (YBPK) of Mojowarno manages several nearby schools.
'Our relations with Pesantren Tebuireng have always been good, especially in our cooperation to handle social issues such as natural disasters,' Wimbo said.
- Photos by Nedi Putra AW
