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At first glance, it seemed like the kind of typical Sunday activity seen at any church. Members of the congregation woke up early and gathered with the intention of cleaning up the church before the service started.

This, however, was the Batak Christian Protestant Church, also known as HBKP Filadelfia, in Ciketing, Bekasi. And for the church members, this wasn’t typical housekeeping. “

A few unidentified men came the night before with a pickup truck and unloaded manure in front of our church,” the Rev. Palti Panjaitan told the Jakarta Globe in an exclusive interview.

By 9 a.m., the cleanup was almost complete and the regular Sunday service was able to proceed. But for the church’s congregation, this was just one among many incidents that have literally tested their faith.

Like many congregations in Indonesia, the members of HBKP Filadelfia are fighting for the freedom to practice their religion.

On Jan. 12, the church was sealed off at the order of the Bekasi district chief, who was responding to pressure from local groups.

The congregation’s members were forced to worship by the roadside until the church was eventually reopened.

The congregation, which currently numbers more than 500, was formed over 10 years ago. They used to hold services at members’ homes, but residents began to object.

They then purchased a shop where they could hold their services, an action that was again met with protests, this time by members of the local faith-based group Forum Komunikasi Umat Islam.

In 2007, the congregation finally built a makeshift church on land members had purchased.

But the debate over religious freedom in Indonesia has heated up again as two Islamic hard-line groups, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and the Islamic People’s Forum (FUI), have protested, sometimes violently, the existence of another HKBP church in Pondok Timur Indah, Bekasi.

About 20 members of the church were allegedly chased and beaten with sticks last Sunday by protesters believed to be linked to the FPI.

Muhali Barja, from FPI Bekasi, said the group believed the church group was breaking the law. “We want them to cool down and secure a proper permit to conduct prayers in a church. If they follow regulations, we will not interfere,” he said earlier this month.

Palti said his congregation followed regulations by collecting signatures of consent from the residents of the neighborhood where the church was to be built.

They also officially filed their building permit with the city administration about three years ago.

“The regulations said we should collect 60 signatures of neighbors of different faiths. So far, we’ve collected 300,” Palti said, referring to a 2006 joint regulation issued by the ministries of religious affairs and home affairs.

Despite their best efforts, however, the congregation was still unable to obtain the necessary permit from the Bekasi administration.

But on Friday, Bekasi Mayor Mochtar Mohamad said that while the church was waiting for its permit, the city would provide it with a building able to accommodate up to 200 people for services.

The mayor said the congregation could begin using the building this Sunday.

But does the nonexistence of a permit justify attacks?

During a cross-religion conference on Monday, Hasyim Muzadi, a former leader of Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, said acts of intimidation and violence could never be justified.

“Faith is a relationship between humans and God. Meanwhile, administration-related procedures for a house of worship is a worldly matter and not a transcendental one,” he was quoted as saying by state news agency Antara.

“The government has the obligation to protect [church groups], so those who have no direct interest in the permit request can’t get involved in the process.”

On Dec. 25, 2009, members of FUI paid a surprise visit to the church, forcefully putting a stop to Christmas celebrations.

“It’s an extraordinary violation of human rights,” the Rev. A A Yewangoe, the general chairman of the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI), said last week.

“Our Constitution guarantees the right of every citizen to worship according to his or her own faith.”

The Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy, a human rights organization, has already recorded 28 violations of religious freedom in Indonesia between January and July this year. Christians are not the only targets of religious violence.

For years, members of Ahmadiyah, a minority Muslim sect, have been the target of hard-line Islamic groups.

Two weeks ago, an Ahmadiyah mosque in Kuningan, West Java, was attacked by a mob demanding that the mosque be closed.

“As a practicing Muslim, I feel very much concerned with violent attacks in the name of Islam,” said a Jakarta resident, Titis Sapto Raharjo, when asked about the attacks. He said people of different religions needed to live in harmony.

“The majority shouldn’t feel superior and see those in the minority as a lower class of people.”

The Rev. Saron, from Gereja Duta Injil (Ambassador Bible Church), said: “It’s an open secret that it’s difficult to get a permit to build churches [in this country].”

Since 1998, the church has been holding Sunday servicse at a hall on the sixth floor of Mall Ambassador in South Jakarta.

“I don’t think that it’s the government, but it is others behind the curtains who object [to the building of churches in the country],” Saron said, referring to fundamentalist groups.

Due to these difficulties, the number of churches holding services in malls and office buildings has mushroomed across the country.

To be able to hold their Sunday services at these locations, the churches have to get a gathering permit from the police and pay hefty hourly fees to the owners of the buildings.

“Still, we get complaints about causing traffic jams on Sundays,” Saron said.

Akbar Novi, a Muslim who considers himself a moderate, said it was often the “technical side” of mall-churches that got to him.

“I have nothing against Christians. In fact, many of my best friends are Christian. But they’ll tell you the same thing. When the already-crowded streets are even more crowded because of some house, or mall, or ruko [shop-house] or church, it gets on your nerves,” he said.

Fendi (not his real name), who said he was an “ID only” Christian, agrees with Akbar. “I pass by the Kayu Putih area [in East Jakarta] every day. It’s essentially a neighborhood road that’s grown exponentially because it leads to Kelapa Gading. But every Sunday or religious holiday, it gets extra crowded because the cars of a congregation that meets in one of the houses by the road. They take up a large portion of the street for parking. That’s just selfish, no matter the reasoning,” he said.

Yewangoe said Christians in the country needed to be extra conscious of how they proclaim their faith so they won’t be misunderstood.

“There are accusations of Christians trying to Christianize people. Unfortunately, there are indications that that might be true. For example, the banners that carry slogans such as ‘Win Indonesia for Christ.’ How would that make you feel [if you weren’t a Christian]?”

He also recalled an incident when a group of Christians assisted flood victims and said they were “slipping them verses from the Bible. Sometimes, we [Christians] tend to overact. If we want to help, just help. That’s a good enough deed.”

When complaints related to church services held inside malls or office buildings escalate to a serious level, the building management usually acts as a mediator. “So far, we haven’t had any serious problems,” Saron said, adding that she believes the “church also helps the tenants in the malls.”

Gereja Duta Injil holds six services every week and counts more than 12,000 members among its congregation.

Though they often complain about where they are forced to hold church services, there is no denying the attraction of a church inside a mall.

“It’s so convenient,” said Meidy Naomi, who attends services on the ninth floor of Plaza Bapindo in South Jakarta.

“[Churches in malls] are safe and well-facilitated, with parking, air-conditioning and clean toilets for the congregation. It’s almost like going to a party.”

The party may still be going, but it is faced with the possibility of ending soon. “Maybe they’ll also drive us out of the malls and buildings, with the thinking that malls should remain as malls and not churches,” Yewangoe said.

“When that happens, we’ll worship on the streets. And if they drive us away again, we’ll have to worship in front of the State Palace. Maybe then the president will notice.

“There are a lot of anomalies in this country,” he added. “When certain groups take over the functions of the government and yet the government does nothing about it, it could be a sign for the collapse of the nation.”