The Gereja Batak Karo Protestan or Karo Batak Protestant Church is the largest church among the largely Christian Karo people of North Sumatra, Indonesia. It was established formally in 1941. The first Christian evangelism was conducted among the Karo people in 1890 by the

Netherlands Missionary Society The Netherlands Missionary Society (Dutch: ''Nederlandsch Zendelinggenootschap'') was a Dutch Protestant missionary society founded in 1797 in Rotterdam that was involved in sending workers to countries such as Indonesia during the Dutch occupation ...

. Due to the perceived association with the colonialism of the Dutch East Indies, only a minority of the Karo converted initially, and it was not until after

Indonesian independence The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence ( id, Proklamasi Kemerdekaan Indonesia, or simply ''Proklamasi'') was read at 10:00 on Friday, 17 August 1945 in Jakarta. The declaration marked the start of the diplomatic and armed resistance of th ...

in 1945 that Christianity acquired significant support among the Karo people. The church has 276,000 members (as of 2006) in 398 congregations with 196 pastors. Member of the

World Communion of Reformed Churches The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the largest association of Calvinist churches in the world. It has 230 member denominations in 108 countries, together claiming an estimated 80 million people, thus being the fourth-largest Chris ...

. As of 2020, GBKP has 400,000 active members in 27 classis and 773 congregations. The Head Office from GBKP or "Gereja Batak Karo Protestan" is located at Pala Bangun Captain Street No 66 Kabanjahe in North Sumatera. From 2020, Pdt. Krismas Imanta Barus acts as the Chairperson, Pdt. Yunus Bangun as the General Secretary, and Mulia Perangin-angin as the Treasurer.

References

External links

Official website
Batak Karo Protestantism in Indonesia Reformed denominations in Indonesia {{Christian-denomination-stub