The GPIB is one of nine churches belonging to the “Protestant” church family in Indonesia (cf. General Introduction and GPI). It was founded in 1948 as the church of GPI members, mostly immigrants from Eastern Indonesia, in the towns of Western Indonesia. At the time the church still included a considerable number of European members and ministers. After the exodus of the Dutch in 1956-1957, the the church became purely Indonesian. During the first decade of the GPIB, it still understood itself, colonial-style, as an organization for the pastoral care of the Christians who had immigrated from the traditional GPI areas into Western Indonesia. Gradually, however, the GPIB’s sense of mission broadened to include missionary work among non-Christians (Central Kalimantan, 1973) and involvement in the life of the society and church in Indonesia as a whole. This meant that the lay people were given a clear place and task in the church. This was more important as the church had a proportionally great number of members in the government bureaucracy and in the army. This new self-understanding was incorporated into the church order of 1962, which was revised in 1972. The GPIB is active in the field of medical care and education, and it has homes for the elderly and orphanages. It publishes two weekly magazines, which contain homiletical materials and Bible studies respectively. The church considers October 31, 1948, as its birth date.
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