TheProtestant Church of Maluku is aReformed church inIndonesia. It is known locally as: Gereja Protestan Maluku or simply GPM. It was formed on September 6, 1935 when it was separated from theProtestant Church in Indonesia.The Protestant Church of Maluku has congregations only in the provinces ofMaluku andNorth Maluku.
1605 February 27: GPM began with their first service as the Gereja Protestan Calvanis (Calvinist Protestant Church) with Dutch citizens, employees of theDutch East India Company (VOC), inAmbon.
1621 Forming of the church board, known as the Majelis Jemaat Indische Kerk, which was initially located inBatavia (Jakarta).
1622 The church board (Majelis Jemaat Indische Kerk) also had a body of leaders inBanda, which resulted in evangelism activities in Maluku, with increasing prevalence and intensity, particularly through the struggle ofAdriaan Hulsebos, who attempted to go serve in Ambon, but his ship sank in the Bay of Ambon, he died, and his mission was continued by Pastor Rosskot (who was instrumental in organizing the first theological training in Ambon, Maluku, which was also the first in Indonesia).[3]
1799 After the bankruptcy and dissolution of the VOC, many of the churches in Indonesia were dissolved, including some of the churches in Ambon.
1865NZG stopped their official work in Maluku, but the church that had been planted continued to grow.[4]
1930 The church continued to grow under the controle of the Dutch East Indies Company and was served by the Protestant Church of Indonesia (Gereja Protestan di Indonesia - GPI) and Nederlandse Zendeling Genotschaap (NZG). Thea area of service covered almost the whole of the Maluku islands.
1935 September 6: The Protestant Church of Maluku (GPM) officially began its era of independence in areas of finance, liturgy, and church doctrine.
1950 RMS (South Maluku Independence Movement) burned much of thecity of Ambon and large areasSeram island including many church buildings in their fight for bringing independence to South Maluku.
1950 May 25: GPM became a member of PGI (Persekutuan Gererja-gereja di Indonesia - The Communion of Churches in Indonesia).[4]
1993–2003 Conflict between Christians and Muslims throughout Maluku, resulting in thousands killed and hundreds of churches and mosques destroyed.
Every year the church has an annual meeting (Sidang MPL) where plans are made for the next following year. This meeting usually happens in November of each year.Location of annual meeting:
2015: Sidang MPL in Ambon at the Joseph Kam church building; Sidang Sinode in Ambon at the Maranatha church building
(both meetings ended up being held in January 2016)
Every five years at the big church meeting (Sidang Raya MPL) new board members are chosen.Each board member can serve for a maximum of two consecutive terms. This meeting is always in Ambon.
The church currently has 575,000 members and 775 congregations, with over 750 pastors in 33 church districts throughout Maluku and part of North Maluku.[8]
