The Gereja-Gereja Reformasi di Indonesia or the Indonesian Reformed Churches is a confessional Reformed church in the country of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

established by orthodox

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

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 ...

missionaries.

History

Missionaries came to Sumba in the late 1800s. The dominant Christian church in this region is the

Evangelical Christian Church in Timor , native_name_lang = id , founded_date=Oct 31, 1947 , founded_place = Syalom Airnona Church , headquarters=CECT Assembly Office Building, S. K. Lerik Street, Kupang City 85228 , main_classification = Protestantism , theology= Calvinism Tradition ...

or the Gereja Masehi Injili di Timor. Sumba was a mission place assigned to the Reformed churches. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

missionary SPJ Goossens was suspended by the Gereja Zwolle of their position but some churches remained loyal to him. A schism occurred. Later this are become a mission field of the

Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) The Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) (Dutch: Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (vrijgemaakt)) are an orthodox Calvinist federation of churches. This church body arose in 1944 out of the so-called Liberation (') from the Reformed ...

. An existing congregations joined this effort. Gereja Zwoolle become the Gereja-Gereja Reformasi di Indonesia or the Reformed Churches of Indonesia in NNT in 1975. Sister church relation with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) was established. The Reformed Church in Indonesia in Papua (GGRI-Papua) is also a result of the missionary effort of the Reformed Churches (Liberated) in 1956 as the most extensive evangelisation work in

. The first baptism took place in 1967 and the first converts were young people. In 1976 the first Classis were formed. The denomination was founded in 1988 when the first

General assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...

was formed. Currently there are 8,000 members, 17 organised congregations, and 21 church plant in the process of becoming official full status congregations and 3 Classes. Most congregations located in the isolated interior part of Papua Province. It has about 15 pastors, 8 candidate pastors and 30 evangelists. The Papua church has a Theological College in Boma. The Reformed Church in Indonesia in Kalbar (GGRI-Kalbar) begun in 1948, was also a mission of the

. Between 1960 and 1993 8 local congregations were established. Later the GGI-Kalbar hag 19 churches, growing into 3 Classes and outreaches to more 15 places and 3,000 members. It has also a theological institute. These three churches held a joint National Synod meeting in 2011. The church currently has almost 5,000 members and more than 14 congregations and 40 house fellowships.

Doctrine

The GGRI-Kalbar, the GGRI-Papua and the GGRI-NNT also subscribe these Reformed standards: * Apostles Creed * Athanasian Creed *

Canons of Dort The Canons of Dort, or Canons of Dordrecht, formally titled The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands, is the judgment of the National Synod held in the Dutch city of Dordrecht in 1618� ...

* Heidelberg Catechism *

Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the "subordinate standard" ...

Second Helvetic Confession The Helvetic Confessions are two documents expressing the common belief of the Calvinist churches of Switzerland. History The First Helvetic Confession ( la, Confessio Helvetica prior), known also as the Second Confession of Basel, was drawn up in ...

Interchurch organisations

The Indonesian Reformed Church is a member of the

International Conference of Reformed Churches The International Conference of Reformed Churches (ICRC) is a federation of Reformed or Calvinist churches around the world. The ICRC was founded in 1981. The ICRC convenes international meetings every four years. Its theology is more conservative ...

.{{Cite web , url=http://icrconline.com/members.html , title=The International Conference of Reformed Churches , access-date=2013-04-19 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140827004312/http://icrconline.com/members.html , archive-date=2014-08-27 , url-status=dead Close relationship with the

Protestant Churches in Indonesia Gereja Jemaat Protestan di Indonesia is a Reformed church in the Province of Papua in Indonesia. It was created on 25 June 1984 by the Reformed Congregations in the Netherlands. It began pioneer mission work in the Yali territory. Historically thi ...

was also established.

References

External links

*Official websit
Indonesian Reformed Churches
Christian organizations established in 1975 Reformed denominations in Indonesia