Inhibited: Members of Rogate church use their priest’s house to follow a sermon after they were stopped from celebrating Christmas at their church by residents and members of an Islamic organization in Sepatan, Tangerang, Banten, on Tuesday.(Courtesy of HKBP Rogate Sepatan)Residents of Sepatan subdistrict in Tangerang, Banten, have protested Christmas services at two churches in the area, forcing congregations to leave their church buildings.



“That night was very sad. The children were frightened and their mothers were crying because they told us to leave our church,” Paiyan Sinaga, a member of the Congregation of Batak Protestant Churches (HKBP) Rogate in Sepatan, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.



Protesters went to the Rogate church building, located in a shophouse in the Sepatan Golden City housing compound, as a Christmas service was taking place on Monday even...