ABSTRACT
The ethnic service is the most important context for the implementation of traditional church music in the Moluccan Protestant church. Language use and heritage preservation play central roles regarding the development process, contestations, experiences, and the implementation of the ethnic service. Practical limitations and a historical semiotic ideology account for the current state of traditional church music. Capability, creativity, and resonances among the actors involved are key to the idea-to-practice process. Most congregants do not yet theologize a relation between the Protestant religion and Moluccan cultural identity. The spaces of culture and religion remain theologically separated while being practically related. The ancestors have been the mediators between Moluccan Protestantism, Moluccan culture, and traditional music. The ethnic service has the potential to bridge the theological idea and religious practice of traditional church music.
