JAKARTA, Indonesia – As Easter weekend approaches, officials in a suburb of Jakarta have ordered a Christian congregation to halt services until their church obtains a building permit, AFP reported.

Reverend Martua Risman Kurniadi of the Indonesian Christian Church said Thursday (March 28th) his congregation had been worshiping in their semi-permanent building since 1994 with no problems, but that the Muslim community in the Jatibening Baru subdistrict was reluctant to give their go-ahead, which is required for the building permit.

"They said they were afraid others would call them infidels if they did so," Kurniadi said.

Authorities sent a formal letter to the congregation Wednesday after around 300 Muslims staged a protest Sunday, demanding worshippers stop celebrating Mass there.

The church is within the larger Bekasi district, where Christians and churches have been increasingly targeted by Muslim hardliners. The Bekasi district administration, also citing a missing permit, bulldozed a church in front of its congregation on March 17th.