TheJakartaPost
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One century on, Jakarta’s Batak church remains oasis of culture, spirituality
HKBP Kernolong’s congregants have included one of Indonesia’s first leaders, former prime minister Amir Sjarifoeddin, as well as noted writer Merari Siregar and former social affairs minister A.M. Tambunan.
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The logo of the Batak Protestant Church (HKBP). (hkbp.or.id/-)
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lmost a century after the Batak Protestant Church (HKBP) was established in Jakarta, the church that started humbly as place for migrants from North Sumatra to gather in what was then Batavia, continues to remain an oasis of culture and spirituality for ethnic Batak Christians.
According to the book Riwayat HKBP Jakarta (the history of HKBP Jakarta), Batak people began migrating to the Dutch East Indies capital of Batavia in search of work or to study after the Batak War in 1907, which saw their North Sumatra homeland incorporated into the Dutch East Indies.
However, the initial influx of Batak people was still slow, with only around 30 Batak Christians living in the city by 1917. In the absence of Batak churches, they attended other churches.
Feeling the desire to pray and hold services according to their denomination and with other Batak people, the congregants gathered at the Hollandsch-Inlandsche School, a Dutch school for native Indonesians in what is now known as Kwitang in Senen, Central Jakarta.
The first service was held on Jl. Kernolong 37, now known as Jl. Kramat IV, on Nov. 20, 1919, marking the establishment of the HKBP church, the first Batak church in Jakarta and Java.
Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) secretary-general Gomar Gultom, who is a HKBP congregant himself, said the establishment of the first Batak church in Jakarta also showed the communal strength of Batak people and how well they interacted with other Jakartans.
When the Batak people wanted to hold their first service, Gereformeerde Kerk, which is now the Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) Kwitang, stepped in to help, with minister L. Tiemersma holding the initial services. The Kwitang church even helped provide a salary for the first HKBP minister, Mula Nainggolan, in 1922.
