Contextualising Church music with traditional Karungut music in Central Kalimantan

Abstract

Church music commonly used in worship services in Indonesia tends to follow musical traditions originating from outside the local culture, particularly Western traditions. As part of society, churches have generally not made significant contributions towards contextualisation through the use of traditional music. This study employs qualitative data using a cultural and church music approach. The Gereja Kalimantan Evangelis (GKE) [Evangelical Church of Kalimantan] was chosen as the research site because it is one of the dominant Protestant churches in Central Kalimantan and has actively contributed to contextualising church music through the integration of karungut, a traditional form of orally transmitted music that functions as a cultural identity marker for the Dayak Ngaju people. Karungut rohani refers to karungut compositions specifically adapted for use in worship, intended to support and strengthen the faith of congregants. Its transformation into church music requires intentional lyric composition aligned with Christian theology, a serious performance attitude, and motivations focused on glorifying God rather than self. The process of contextualising karungut rohani in worship involves three primary groups: church leaders or pastors as policy-makers, karungut rohani artists as cultural agents and the congregation as listeners and participants.
Contribution: The novelty of this study lies in the discovery of the concept, application and form of karungut rohani as church music. The contribution of this research is to serve as a reference for the contextualisation of church music and to encourage church communities to integrate traditional music with church music in worship services, so that the congregation can experience worship more deeply and meaningfully within their own cultural context. The contextualisation of worship through karungut rohani is expected to serve as a new concept or model for the development of church music and liturgy using traditional musical forms.