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s a metropolitan city, which is home to a multilingual populace, Jakarta is expected to cater to the needs of its citizens, including their search for religious services.

Some churches offer sermons in languages other than Indonesian. These multilingual sermons are held on a weekly basis and are held in Indonesian, Dutch, Chinese and English.

The Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) Pinangsia, located in Jakarta Old Town, West Jakarta, is one of the churches that provides multilingual services.

For Christmas, the church will be holding sermons in Chinese, Indonesian and sign language on Dec. 24 and 25 at 9:30 a.m.

Pastor Tjen Benny of GKI Pinangsia said providing multilingual sermons to congregation members was part of GKI Pinangsia’s tradition. Sermons in Chinese have been held since the church was established in 1952 by the Chinese Hokkien community.

“We want to share God’s words with people of all racial and cultural backgrounds. We provide sermons in Chinese because we want to accommodate the Chinese Indonesian community who speak Mandarin, while the sign language service is for people with special needs,” he said.

The church has around 80 to 90 people who attend their weekly Chinese services and around 25 to 30 members from across Greater Jakarta attending its sign language services.

The Western Indonesia Immanuel Protestant Church (GPIB Immanuel) on Jl. Merdeka Timur in Central Jakarta delivers its sermons in Dutch, as well as English and Indonesian. The service in Dutch has been held since the church was established in 1839.

“We’ve decided to provide multilingual sermons following requests by our congregation members, many of whom are expatriates. In the past, we also provided sermons in Korean, English and Bahasa Indonesia, but not anymore,” Maggie Sulu, a council member at GPIB Immanuel, said.

This year, Christmas services in Dutch will be held on Dec. 25 at 10 a.m. The church will also provide sermons in English at 5 p.m. and Indonesian at 8 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., respectively.

The Jakarta Community Church (JCC), at the Effatha Church Community Hall in South Jakarta, only provides English sermons.

JCC secretary Jenny Panjaitan said the church had been providing both weekly and Christmas services in English since 1953.

“What makes JCC different is that the sermon is held only in English. We cater to expatriates from many countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Switzerland, Italy and Brazil,” said Jenny.

“But the funny thing is that at Christmas, most expatriates go back to their home countries to celebrate with their families. Christmas services will be available on Dec. 24 at 7 p.m. and on Dec. 25 at 10 a.m.,” she added.

The presence of churches offering multilingual services have been helpful for expatriates living in the city.

Tina de Guzman, 36, an expatriate from the Philippines who has been living in Jakarta for
11 years said celebrating Christmas at a church in Jakarta was more peaceful compared to her own country.

“Celebrating Christmas is quieter in Jakarta because less people and expats attend the celebration here. The church is quite accommodative to everybody, regardless of whether you are an expatriate or not,” added Tina who works as an operational manager at a company in South Jakarta.

She said her family would also come to Jakarta to celebrate Christmas with her this year.

“My family from the Philippines will join me to celebrate Christmas and we will attend mass either on the 24th or 25th of December at St. Perawan Maria Ratu Catholic Church in South Jakarta,” she added. (roi)