Church a Jakarta fixture amid changing times

Church a Jakarta fixture amid changing times

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The capital of the world's largest Muslim country, Jakarta's
sprawling houses of worship of many faiths shows its religious
diversity.

There is the gigantic Buddhist temple near Ancol, North
Jakarta, for instance, and several grand churches right in the
heart of the city.

The old churches not only retain their function as places of
worship today, but also speak of history, particularly the Dutch
colonial era.

Hidden behind trees and a high wall amid busy Jl. Ridwan Rais,
across from Tugu Tani monument and a five-star hotel, few would
notice the existence of All Saints Anglican Church in Central
Jakarta.

This is despite its historical significance as the first
English-speaking institution in the country.

"The story of the church is not just the story of the
Christian religious community. But also, if you like, a story
about what happened to the English speaking-people. The
information about the war, economic activity of English-speaking
people..," said Rev. Andrew Lake, the vicar of All Saints who has
recently completed his eight-year term of service here.

"... the church has both witnessed and participated in
Indonesia's colorful and turbulent history."

Lake has immortalized that legacy in Changes & Chances, A
Personal History of All Saints Jakarta, which was launched
recently.

He said little had been written about the English-speaking
community since the time of Raffles in the early 19th century.

"That's a pity, because there's always been English-speaking
people here, they have always been part of the community," he
said.

The history of the church dates back to 1819, as the London
Missionary Society (LMS) began to work among the Chinese and
British communities in Java.

For the first 15 years, the church was a simple bamboo chapel,
with no exterior walls, only pillars of bricks and plaster.

Termites destroyed it all, and the bamboo house burned down.
The present church building was built in 1831 in a tropical
variation of the Georgian architectural style.

"It's similar to the old churches and old buildings in India,
because it's built in the tropics," said the Australian, who
obtained information about the church's history from the
headquarters for the Anglican Church in Southeast Asia in
Singapore, Singapore's Trinity College and Oxford University.

The missionaries packed up and went to China when the country
began to open up to foreigners in 1843, and the church was sold
to the British Protestant Community.

The building was extended, with an annex sanctuary and chancel
to the original structure's nave and veranda. The aisles were
also given the traditional Anglican cruciform pattern.

"The building was altered several times, but the basic
structure is still the same. Inside, it's just like the church in
the early days. All the same furniture, the same design..it
hasn't been changed for 75 years inside."

Twenty years ago, the veranda was boarded up to reduce the
noise and dust from the street.

Until 1950, the church was known as Engelsche Klerk (the
English church) despite its classical building lines,
characteristic of many Dutch buildings of old Batavia.

A month after Aug. 17, 1950, as the Republic Indonesia
received full international recognition, the Church of the
British Protestant Community changed its name to All Saints
Church.

The new name was considered more appropriate to shed its
British image, since the number of non-British people attending
the church, especially Americans, was increasing.

"The church here is not exclusively for Anglicans. We welcome
people to come along. The present Church Council includes members
from Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran and Methodist backgrounds," Lake
said, adding there were Indonesian and English-speaking
congregations.

The congregation is very international: Africans, Indians,
Australians, Malaysian, Singaporean, Canadian, British, American,
even sometimes French, Dutch, German, Swedish, and people from
all over Indonesia.

The more diverse composition of the congregation today
reflects the changing expatriate population over the years.

Through the turbulent years of independence in the late 1940s
to early 1950s, there were only 150 British adult males living in
Jakarta, while the British community outside the city was
negligible. It explains why there was no record of services until
1953.

Amid tough economic times, and with little foreign presence in
the country, the church struggled constantly to raise funds.

Considered a British institution, the church was also an
obvious target for attack and seizure during the confrontation
with Malaysia in the early 1960s.

In May 1964, all British estates in the country were
confiscated by the government. Church attendance declined,
including after the abortive communist coup in September 1965,
and hit its nadir in 1966, with only nine people at a Sunday
service.

But Sukarno's downfall and the rise of Soeharto's New Order
regime brought a favorable environment for the international
churches.

On July 29, 1974, however, one of the saddest incidents of the
church's history occurred as Eric Constable, an Australian priest
who had only been at All Saints for two weeks, was murdered.

The Soeharto regime, embarrassed by the incident, pursued it
as a simple criminal case.

Twenty-six years later, however, Lake read a report that the
murderer was outraged by the rapid growth of Christianity since
Soeharto had taken power, and especially that Jakarta was to host
the General Assembly of the World Council of Churches in 1975 (it
was moved to Nairobi).

Lake also identifies the May 1998 riots as important for its
effect on the church, with the city crippled and the departure of
many expatriates. It was followed by the Ketapang incident in
November 1998, where 30 churches and Christian schools across the
northern part of the city were attacked. Several churches were
destroyed.

Soldiers were stationed on the front lawn of the church, and
the compound had a military presence for the rest of the week.

The next outbreak of violence affecting the church was the
Christmas bombing in 2000, when bombs exploded almost
simultaneously in or outside churches in various towns on
Christmas Eve.

Lake described it as follows: "At 8.30 p.m. one of the
security guards at All Saints sighted a suspicious looking cabin
bag in the front car park, leading the police to cordon off the
front of the church and eventually remove the bag.

"There's terror everywhere, but when it occurs when people are
worshiping God, because we strongly believe in a religion.. like
the murder of a woman priest in Sulawesi recently, when she was
in service.. What do you say, that's frightening, I think.

"But I don't want to make a big deal out of it, I don't want
to play victim."

After living in Jakarta for eight years, Lake said that
Indonesia was a model of religious tolerance.

"I think people have done a fantastic job. I found (the
minority of religious fanatics) disturbing, not so much
personally but just for the sake of Indonesian people."

Lake left for Australia recently, and has been replaced by
D.A. Appleby.

The church remains as a sturdy presence, with a well-trimmed
lawn and a gazebo in front of it, showing the resilience that has
stood the test of time.