Javanese Mennonite Church
Javanese Mennonite Church (Indonesian: injili di Tanah Jawa) is one of three Mennonite-related church synods in Indonesia Its member congregations are concentrated in the Mount Muria area along the coast of north Central Java in Indonesia, although there are congregations in a few other cities like Semarang, Salatiga and Yoyakarta and the provinces of Lampung and South Sumatra.The first Mennonite mission congregation in the Dutch East Indies (today Indonesia) was formed in the coastal town of Jepara at the western foot of Mount Muria when the first believers there were baptized in 1854 by Pieter Jansz.Pasrah Karso became an important early Javanese leader of this church first in Pulojati and then leading a group in the formation of the Kedungpenjalin Congregation.Eventually, by the turn of the twentieth century, all three of these streams were united into one family of congregations under the leadership and care of the Dutch Mennonite Mission with missionaries from Netherlands, Russia, and later Germany and Switzerland.The remaining Dutch and Swiss missionaries determined that it was time to organize the churches that had developed by that time into an independent synod with the Javanese language name Patoenggilanipoen Para Pasamoean Kristen Tata Injil ing Wengkon Pati, Koedoes lan Jepara (literally, Union of Gospel Pattern Christian Congregations in the regions of Pati, Kudus and Jepara), which was done on May 30, 1940.