The Gathering Place

A Brief History
In 2005, ten years after Jakarta International Christian Fellowship (JICF) first began holding services, God was stirring in the hearts and lives of a number of regular attenders at JICF and some people that had just arrived to Jakarta. This group met together with the blessing of the JICF elders to look at the possibility of starting a third service for JICF somewhere in south Jakarta. Many people attending JICF were coming from further and further away. Still even more English speaking foreigners weren't attending church at all. Because of the language barrier and cultural differences, many foreigners don't understand or feel out of place in Indonesian churches, and JICF was just too far away in it's downtown location.

The Gathering Place is not a separate church from JICF but rather a third service reaching out to a different audience. Becuase the audience is different, the service looks different. The core team realized that there are many families living in the Pondok Indah and they wanted to be able to reach out to them in a way that would meaningfully touch their lives.

The Gathering Place held its first official meeting on January 28, 2006 as a third service of Jakarta International Christian Fellowship. Under the leadership of JICF, The Gathering Place meets each Saturday to address the spiritual needs of the following target audiences who can communicate in the English language:
1. Expatriate Believers. Although a handful of English speaking congregations exist in Jakarta, they typically represent denominational churches which conduct their worship services in a traditional style. The Gathering Place intendeds to attract Christians of many nationalities who may or may not be conected to any denomination, but are interested in participating in an English language service which is Biblically based, but non-traditional in nature.

2. Expatriate Seekers. As a result of a change in environment and/or unfulfilled expectations, The Gathering Place feels that foreigners residing in Jakarta are often more open to the truth of the gospel than they might have previously been in their home countries. The Gathering Place is committed to reaching the unchurched English speaking foreigners living in Jakarta by presenting the good news about Jesus Christ in a clear and uncompromising, but relevant and contemporary fashion.

3. English speaking Indonesians. A growing number of overseas educated Indonesians have become believers or were exposed to the good news in English speaking countries - and wish to continue to read and study the Bible as well as worship in English. There are also many Indonesians who use English in their place of work, and enjoy the international feeling at The Gathering Place, and our non-traditional approach to church.

Those Who Gather
The Saturday night gathering presently numbers around 100 and is composed of citizens from multiple countries around the world who are visiting or have been residing in Jakarta for varying number of years. There is a growing number of Indonesians - and we would love to see this greatly increase in the future.

The Gathering Place attendees include Christians from a wide variety of denominational and non-denominational backgrounds, as well as unbelievers with and without a church background and people of other faiths who feel comfortable attending a church where they hear and see the Christian faith communicated without being turned-off by the unnecessary cultural baggage which often accompanies its presentation.

In spite of the extraordinary racial, cultural and religious diversity at The Gathering Place, the church has a remarkable warmth and unity as committed believers have joined together to meet needs inside and outside the congregation. The Gathering Place shares two elders with JICF. The Gathing Place also has what they refer to as the "core team" that meets every two months and acts in an advisory capacity for The Gathering Place.

The Gathering Place's Saturday evening service incorporates contemporary worship and teaching from 5-6pm and also provides a children's program for those from 0-6th grade. The Gathering Place encourages people to come early and to stay late. The seating at The Gathering Place is intentionally around round tables so as to facilitate conversation and to encourage people to get to know others. Each week there is a time of response around each table as part of the service where people can pray together or ponder a question related to the message.