The Protestant Christian Church of Nias or Banua Niha Keriso Protestan is a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

denomination in

Nias Nias ( id, Pulau Nias, Nias language: ''Tanö Niha'') (sometimes called Little Sumatra in English) is an island located off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Nias is also the name of the archipelago () of which the island is the centre, ...

, North Sumatra. The

Rhenish Missionary Society The Rhenish Missionary Society (''Rhenish'' of the river Rhine) was one of the largest Protestant missionary societies in Germany. Formed from smaller missions founded as far back as 1799, the Society was amalgamated on 23 September 1828, and it ...

started work in Nias under leadership of E. Ludwig Denninger in 1865. Until the 1900's, when the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

colonial period came, the progress of the denomination was very slow. In 1890 there were only 706 baptized members, but in 1910 this grew to over 20,000, and in 1921 there were 60,000 members. The church was officially established in 1936, when the first Synod was formed. Currently the island has a population of 500,000 members; 73% of them are Protestant, 18% Roman Catholic and 7% Muslim. The church has approximately 357,000 members and 100 parishes spread throughout Indonesia (not limited to Nias island).

References

{{World Council of Churches Calvinist denominations established in the 20th century North Sumatra Reformed denominations in Indonesia Christian organizations established in 1936 Religious organizations based in Indonesia