Jakarta, Indonesia – The congregation of beleaguered Filadelfia Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) failed to conduct a New Year's Eve service as hundreds of local residents, police and public order officers (Satpol PP) intercepted worshipers before they reached the church in Tambun, Bekasi, West Java, on Monday evening.

Rev. Palti Panjaitan of Filadelfia said on Tuesday that when the congregants approached the church, public order officers formed a barricade, stopping them from entering the church at around 6 p.m.

Palti said that 100 meters from the Satpol PP personnel, police officers ordered them to disperse and formed a barricade to prevent local residents from approaching them. "We eventually dispersed when the crowd started to besiege us from every direction and threw eggs and dirt at us," he told The Jakarta Post.

Palti said the congregants also failed to hold services in the front yard of Tambun Police headquarters because the police had set up a stage, tents and chairs for their New Year's Eve celebration.

Despite discouragement from the government, law enforcement agencies and local residents, Palti said his congregants would keep going to their church to worship.

A dispute about the church's building permit has been raging for years between the HKBP church and residents of Jejalen Jaya village, Bekasi. Locals do not want a church in their community despite the church obtaining a permit from the court. (cor/iwa)