The Luwu Indonesian Protestant Church (locally called the Gereja Protestan Injili Luwu or GPIL) is a member of the
Protestant Church in Indonesia centered around the
Luwu Regency
Luwu Regency (Kabupaten Luwu in Indonesian) is a Regencies of Indonesia, regency of South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The administrative capital now lies at Belopa, since the former capital (Palopo) became an independent municipality (city) i ...
.
History
The first Christian missionary was placed in Luwu in 1930. Missionary work was primarily done in the mountainous regions due to prior
Islamization
Islamization, Islamicization, or Islamification ( ar, أسلمة, translit=aslamāh), refers to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occur ...
of the coastal plain. However, a
1949 Islamist insurgency against the central government forced some Christian congregations to relocate to the coastal areas. Following the insurgency, the number of Christians in the area grew due to immigration from surrounding regions.
The GPIL was formed after several congregations split from the
Toraja Church
Toraja Church is a Protestant Christian denomination in Tana Toraja, Indonesia, of which the majority of the Torajan people are members. This church is a member of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia since 1950. On 1912-1913 the Gerevormerde M ...
in 1965. It marks its official date of formation as 6 February 1966.
Organization
In the year 2000, the church had roughly 17,000 members in 159 congregations. It follows a Presbyterian organizational structure, with its congregations divided into six
Classis: Nasakke, Lebang, Lambara, Kerepansu, Tabarano and Kalaena.
References
{{Reflist
Reformed denominations in Indonesia