‘More than a songbook’: An Indonesian Lutheran hymnal

A statue of Jesus Christ overlooks Luther Theological Seminary, the seminary of the Indonesian Christian Lutheran Church, on Nov. 12, 2024, in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The words on the statue are Indonesian for John 14:6: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (LCMS/Erik M. Lunsford)

By Megan K. Mertz

A statue of Jesus Christ, inscribed with the words of John 14:6, looks over the rural village of Sihabonghabong, Indonesia. Although Indonesia is predominantly a Muslim country, this part of North Sumatra has a large Christian population — including the 20,000 members of the Indonesian Christian Lutheran Church (Gereja Kristen Luther Indonesia, or GKLI), an emerging partner of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS).

Over the last few years, GKLI pastors and LCMS international staff have met together here at the GKLI headquarters on a major undertaking: the creation of a truly Lutheran hymnal in the Indonesian language. In mid-November 2024, they gathered again — this time in an open-air hotel meeting room in nearby Dolok Sanggul — to celebrate the dedication of the Buku Ibadah Lutheran (Lutheran Worship Book), during a GKLI pastors’ conference.

The Rev. Matthew Wood, who has served with the LCMS in Indonesia since 2018, introduced the Buku Ibadah Lutheran and its contents. During the conference, the pastors sang Matins and Vespers together, and GKLI leaders taught them how to lead their congregations in chanting the psalms.

“This is more than a songbook; it is a worship book,” Wood said as he introduced the hymnal to the group. “The others [you’ve used] are only songbooks. The goal of this hymnal is to draw you and your family into a devotional and worship life that extends beyond Sunday morning and throughout the whole week.”

GKLI Bishop Jon Albert Saragih hopes the hymnal will also be “a tool to introduce about Lutheranism” that draws other Indonesian speakers into the church, so that all may come to know Jesus Christ as “the way, and the truth, and the life.”

Read more at Lutherans Engage the World.

Posted March 27, 2025