Part one of a series on the church planting strategy of Pastor Niko Njotorahardjo of Indonesia, pastor of the largest Church of God congregation in the world.
By James Cossey
Driving recently through a major Southern city, I saw an impressive billboard for a Church of God congregation, the caption of which read, “One Church: Two Locations.” The idea that the church is not a building, but a movement of people under pastoral authority is not new; it is a biblical concept, and one that has worked well in many parts of the world for many years.
Such is the concept of Pastor Niko Njotorahardjo, a former assistant national overseer for Gereja Bethel Indonesia (the Church of God in Indonesia), and a senior pastor whose billboard could read, “One .Church: 500 Locations!”
On Sunday, January 11, 2009, I was privileged to minister to over 500 people in the 8:30 a.m. service at Bethany Church, Singapore, originally one of Pastor Niko’s congregations, now led by Senior Pastor Djohan Handojo. At the second service that morning, Donnie Smith, director of the Division of Care Ministries, preached to more than 1,200. While we worshipped, services were also being conducted in the Mandarin language for the Chinese, youth services were going on, and domestic helpers (hotel maids and workers, most of them Muslims) were being taught how to get their high school diplomas and improve their way of life. Eight services are conducted each Sunday by Bethany Church in the beautiful Hyatt Hotel.
Mentored by Pastor Niko and the son of a Gereja Bethel pastor, Djohan didn’t plan to be a pastor. He was a businessman with a degree in architecture who became a consultant for educational construction. He collaborated with institutions such as the World Bank and served in human-resource development with the Asian Development Bank (1988-1998). But today, five of seven siblings, including Djohan, are in full-time ministry.
Another such pastor is Richard Pang, who is the associate pastor for the Bethany Church’s English-speaking congregation. Meeting on the seventh floor of a commercial office building, this congregation began in 1993 as a home cell group. Comprised primarily of young, affluent Singaporeans, this growing congregation is nearing the 100 mark in regular attendance and, to accommodate their growth, is now moving into the Hyatt Hotel.
Using this mother-daughter method of church planting, Pastor Niko has spread the influence of Gereja Bethel across Indonesia and into Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and major cities all over the world where Indonesians have migrated.
–James E. Cossey is Editor in Chief of the Church of God Evangel.
© 2009 Church of God World Missions