The Toraja country in the southern part of the central highlands of Sulawesi warded off Islamicization during the 17th through 19th centuries, but with the establishment of Dutch authority in 1906 the region was opened to foreign influences. In 1912-1913 the established Protestant Church started a mission, which resulted in a first group baptism on March 16, 1913. In the same year a Dutch mission body, the conservative Calvinist Gereformeerde Zendingsbond, took over. Until 1942 the GZB made a sustained and well-organized effort to bring Christianity to Tana Toraja and to make preparations for the founding of an independent church starting with the congr. Church councils on the local and classis level were constituted, and in 1941, when there were about 15,000 baptized Christians, the first congregation was declared independent and called its own minister. World War II interrupted the process of building a church starting from these congr. In March 1947 a synod was convened and the Toraja Church was constituted, which included all congr. In the 1950s the church suffered heavily because of an Islam-inspired rebellion against the central government. At the same time tens of thousands entered the church because they were faced with the choice: Islam or Christianity. In the ’60s peace returned, and the church entered on a phase of consolidation. It established itself as the church of the (Sa’dan) Toraja people, including about 70% of those who consider themselves Torajans, 10% belonging to the RCath Church, and 10% still adhering to the ancestral religion. It has also founded congr among emigrants to the cities outside Toraja land, in Sulawesi, Kalimantan, and Java. The church has retained the moderate stance toward local culture taken by the mission, and it devotes much energy to thinking and living the relation between that culture and the Christian faith. In the church order of 1947, the Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, and Canons of Dordt were introduced as the confessions of the church, but in 1981 the Synod accepted a new confession of faith drafted by Toraja theologians. In 1984 women were admitted to church office (deacons, elders, ministers). The Gereja Toraja still maintains a cordial relationship with the founding mission, but it has also entered into relation with other churches and missions abroad. The Gereja Toraja has two hospitals, an orphanage, a number of schools, and a training center for women motivators in the villages. It publishes a magazine,Berita Gereja Toraja.The church considers March 25, 1947, as its birth date.
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