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Gereja Kristen Protestan Simalungun (GKPS - Simalungun Protestant Christian Church) is an Evangelical Lutheran church formally founded to spread Christianity among the Simalungun people, a tribe living in Simalungun, North Sumatra, Indonesia. It has a baptized membership of 211,383. [1]
August Theis led a group of German missionaries to spread Christianity to the Simalungun area after he received a telegram from the local Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft (RMG - Deutschlands-based sending institution) leader. On 2 September 1903 they arrived at Pematang Raya to begin their mission among the Simalungunese. 2 September has been celebrated each year by GKPS all over the world as an olob-olob (Simalungunese for joyous) day to thank God that the Bible has entered Simalungun.
The sending mission was effectively started in 1904 with August Theis at Pematang Raya and Guillaume at Purba Saribu (western part of Simalungun). Not until 1909 did the first Simalungunese Christian baptism occur at Pematang Raya. Later in the same year, 38 other Simalungunese were baptized at Parapat.
Up to 1910, 17 churches were founded inside the Simalungun area. They were:
The first missions were held using the Toba language. Simalungunese resistance to the Westerners and their lack of comprehension of the Toba language decreased RMG effectiveness and therefore held back the growth of Christianity among the Simalungunese.
On 1 September 1928, the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Christianity at Simalungun was held at Pematang Raya. On this occasion, some Guru (teachers) and Sintua (deacons) agreed to found a committee which planned to translate church-related text books into the Simalungun language. This produced Haleluya (singing book) and Manna (daily reading book).
On 15 November of the same year, a group called "Kongsi Laita" (laita means "let's go") was founded at Sondiraya by some members of the Pematang Raya church to ask the Simalungunese to spread Christianity by themselves to others.
On 26 September 1940, all of the churches inside the Simalungun area were officially grouped together as a single district inside HKBP (Huria Kristen Batak Protestan). 12 years later on 5 October 1952, Simalungun District synod members held a meeting to prepare a separation between themselves and HKBP. The new church was called HKBPS (HKBP-Simalungun).
HKBPS reorganized themselves on 30 November 1952, by dividing themselves into three districts. An administrative office was also built in Sudirman Street, Pematang Siantar, as a headquarters.
HKBPS transformed its organization and name into Gereja Kristen Protestan Simalungun (GKPS) on 1 September 1963. In order to serve the Simalungunese better, GKPS founded its educational center at Pematang Raya and a dormitory for boys and girls. GKPS also founded a centre for agricultural training on 15 January 1964, at Pematang Siantar, which is called PELPEM GKPS.
GKPS was accepted into Persekutuan Gereja-gereja Indonesia (PGI, or Indonesian churches association) in 1963. GKPS has also always co-operated strongly with Lutheran churches around the world such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA). On the international level, GKPS is registered in several international church organization such as:
GKPS' other overseas partners include:
The Lutheran World Federation is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish city of Lund in the aftermath of the Second World War in 1947 to coordinate the activities of the many differing Lutheran churches. Since 1984, the member churches are in pulpit and altar fellowship, with common doctrine as the basis of membership and mission activity.
Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, Angkola, Mandailing and related ethnic groups with distinct languages and traditional customs (adat).
Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen was a Danish Lutheran missionary to Batak lands, North Sumatra who also translated the New Testament into the native Batak language and the first Ephorus (bishop) of Batak Christian Protestant Church. Stephen Neill, a historian of missions, considered Nommensen one of the greatest missionaries of all time. He is commemorated as a missionary on 7 November in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church with John Christian Frederick Heyer and Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg.
The Christian Conference of Asia is a regional ecumenical organisation representing 15 National Councils and over 100 denominations (churches) in New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, East Timor, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand.
Pematangsiantar, and also known as the City of Pematangsiantar, is an independent city in North Sumatra Province of Indonesia, surrounded by, but not part of, the Simalungun Regency, making Pematangsiantar an enclave within Simalungun Regency. Pematangsiantar formerly had the status of a second-level district and was the administrative centre of the surrounding Regency, but in 1986 it was elevated to Kota (City) and separated from the Regency.
The Batak Christian Protestant Church abbreviated as HKBP, is an Evangelical Lutheran church among the Batak people, generally the Toba Batak in Indonesia. This church uses an Ecumenical worship style influenced by the Dutch Reformed Church due to the influence of Dutch colonialism in Indonesia, as well as the legacy obtained from the Rhenish Missionary Society when the church was founded. With a membership of 4,133,000, the church synod is the largest among the Protestant churches in Indonesia it is one of the largest Protestant churches in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, making it the third largest religious organization in Indonesia after Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah. Its present leader is Ephorus (bishop) Robinson Butarbutar.
Christianity is Indonesia's second-largest religion, after Islam. Indonesia also has the second-largest Christian population in Southeast Asia after the Philippines, the largest Protestant population in Southeast Asia, and the third-largest Christian population in Asia after the Philippines and China. Indonesia also has the second-largest Christian population in the Muslim world, after Nigeria, followed by Egypt. Indonesia's 29.4 million Christians constituted 10.47% of the country's population in 2023, with 7.41% Protestant and 3.06% Catholic. Some provinces in Indonesia are majority Christian. In Indonesia, the word Kristen refers to Protestantism, while Catholicism is referred to as Katolik. In the 21st century the rate of growth and spread of Christianity has increased, especially among the Chinese minority.
Protestantism is one of the six approved religions in Indonesia, the others being Islam, Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. It constitutes the bulk of Christianity in Indonesia, which is the second largest religion in the country after Islam.
Simalungun Regency is a regency in North Sumatra Province of Indonesia. Its seat was formerly at Pematangsiantar, but this city was under Law No.15 of 10 March 1986 was separated from the Regency and made into an independent city (kota), although it remains geographically surrounded by the regency, whose new administrative seat is at Raya, while the regency's two most populous districts are Bandar and Siantar. The regency now covers an area of 4,372.5 square kilometres, and at the 2010 census it had a population of 817,720; at the 2020 Census this had risen to 990,246, of whom 497,314 were males and 492,932 were females; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 1,035,920 - comprising 521,262 males and 514,658 females.
Universitas HKBP Nommensen a.k.a. UHN is an Evangelical Lutheran private university with campuses located in Medan and Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra, Indonesia. The university belongs to Batak Christian Protestant Church and is named after the German Lutheran missionary Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen from the Rhenish Missionary Society.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia or ELCM is one of the four Lutheran bodies in Malaysia. It currently has 21 congregations nationwide with a total of 3,650 members.
The Simalungun people are an ethnic group in North Sumatra, considered one of the Batak peoples. Simalungun people live mostly in Simalungun Regency and the surrounding areas, including the city of Pematang Siantar, an autonomous city, but previously part of Simalungun Regency.
The Toba Batak people are the largest ethnic group of the Batak peoples of North Sumatra, Indonesia. The general term ‘Batak’ is sometimes used to refer to the Batak Toba people, for one thing because the Toba people are the largest sub-group of the Batak ethnicity, for another because they tend to self-identify as merely Batak instead of ‘Toba’ or ‘Batak Toba’, contrary to the habit of the Karo, Mandailing, Simalungun, Pakpak communities who commonly self-identify with their respective sub-groups.
West Kalimantan Christian Church or GKKB is an evangelical Christian church organization in West Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Ramlan Hutahaean was an Indonesian Lutheran minister. He was the 9th General Secretary of the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) between 2008 and 2012.
Soritua Albert Ernst Nababan was an Indonesian Lutheran minister who was elected as the ephorus (bishop) of the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) at its 48th Sinode Godang on 31 January 1987.
Angkola Protestant Christian Church abbreviated as GKPA, is a church Christian Protestant synod in Indonesia with its head office in Padangsidimpuan, North Sumatra province. This church organization was officially established on October 26, 1975 when it obtained autonomy from Huria Kristen Batak Protestant (HKBP), under the name HKBP-A. In 1988 it merged with the "Angkola Protestant Church (GPA)", and began to take the name "Angkola Protestant Christian Church". GKPA serves specifically the Angkola Batak community in their local language.
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