Triadic legitimation in sacred space construction: how theology, indigenous authority, and state power negotiate religious built environments

Abstract

This study examines how theology, customary authority, and state regulation shape the construction of places of worship in Jayapura Regency, Papua. Using a qualitative multi-case design, it compares GIDI Jemaat Bukit Tabor, GKI Immanuel Ifar Gunung, and GPdI Sion Doyo Baru, selected to capture contrasting configurations of customary, state, and negotiated legitimacy. Informants included Ondoafi, church leaders, FKUB representatives, and affected indigenous community members. Interviews, participatory observations, and documents, including regulations, government records, and land-licensing materials, were analyzed through Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña’s interactive process of data reduction, display, and conclusion verification; source triangulation strengthened credibility. Anchored in legal pluralism and indigenous governance, “grounding sacredness” is presented as an inductively derived concept describing how religious sacredness is negotiated with customary land sacredness and state legality. Across cases, conflicts centered on land rights, authority, recognition, and participation rather than doctrinal differences. The findings identify three interacting forms of legitimacy theological, customary, and legal-administrative that jointly condition social acceptance of religious construction. This framework positions sacredness as a practical mechanism of governance and clarifies why formal legality alone cannot ensure community acceptance.