The Importance of Preserving the Archives of Indonesian Church History as Indigenous Knowledge

This paper discusses the importance of preserving the archives of Indonesian church history. The object of this research is the archive of church history which is understood to be the source of indigenous knowledge in the research locus of the Documentation Center for Indonesian Church History (DCICH) – Pusat Dokumentasi Sejarah Gereja Indonesia. This study will examine the importance of the church history archive as indigenous knowledge that became the focus of the DCICH’s work. This paper uses the literature study methodology as well as observations on the DCICH unit in Jakarta Theological School, Jakarta (STT Jakarta). In this observation, the researcher did not raise the example in the context of one particular local church and also did not supply details about the sample of indigenous knowledge as a result of the encounter with the old church communities. The purpose of this study is also to arouse awareness for local churches in Indonesia to encourage them to begin maintaining and managing their church history archives.