Protestantism in Indonesia

Protestantism is one of the six approved religions in the country, 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. According to CIA statistic, in 2000 5.7% of the population of Indonesia were Protestant. A nationwide census of 2010 noted almost 7% (16,530,000) of the population considering themselves Protestant, largest in Southeast Asia.

Protestantism arrived in Indonesia during the Dutch East Indies colonization. By the mid-1700s a significant Lutheran presence was found in Jakarta, with a Lutheran church built by the Lutheran Governor General Gustaaf Willem van Imhoff in 1749. In 1817, the Dutch founded the Protestantsche Kerk in Nederlandsch-Indie ("Indische Kerk") as a union of Reformed, Lutheran, Baptists, Arminian and Mennonite denominations. In 1835, the Dutch king decreed that one church council would fuse and oversee the Protestant denominations in the Dutch colony.

On the island of Sulawesi, 17% of the citizens are Protestants, particularly in Tana Toraja and North Sulawesi. Up to 65% of the Torajan population are Protestant. In some parts of the country, entire villages belong to a distinct denomination, such as Adventist, Lutheran, Presbyterian or Salvation Army. Two provinces have Protestant majorities: North Sulawesi (64%) and Papua (60%). Gereja Injili di Tanah Jawa is a Mennonite-related denomination. Huria Kristen Batak Protestant is a Lutheran denomination founded by Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen. It is the largest Protestant denomination in Indonesia and has over 4 million congregants. The relatively large number of "denominations" per capita in Indonesia may be due to the significant number of different ethnic groups in Indonesia. Many Indonesian Protestants tend to congregate based more on ethnicity than liturgical differences.

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