The Role of the Church as a Faith-Based Organization in Bringing About Social Change: A Case Study of GMIT in the Kampung Berseri CSR Program of PT Pertamina Patra Niaga AFT El Tari, Kupang City

Abstract

This study examines the role of the Gereja Masehi Injili in Timor (GMIT) as a Faith-Based Organization (FBO) in bringing about social change in the Kupang community through the Kampung Berseri Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program implemented by PT Pertamina Patra Niaga (AFT) El Tari. While previous studies have emphasized how GMIT’s socio-spiritual legitimacy contributes to the effectiveness of inclusive circular economy initiatives, this study shifts the analytical focus to role theory and social change theory to explain how GMIT’s institutional position generates measurable social transformation. This qualitative study employed a case study approach. Data were collected through interviews, internal CSR documents, and relevant literature, and were analyzed descriptively through source triangulation. The findings indicate that GMIT performs four interconnected roles: theological educator, moral communicator, institutional facilitator, and cross-congregational advocacy mobilizer. These roles are manifested through environmental training for church councils, the dissemination of ecological values through sermons, the establishment of waste bank units in churches and schools, and community-based climate change advocacy activities within religious communities. These four roles contribute sequentially to three levels of social change: cognitive change, reflected in the reinterpretation of waste and climate issues as forms of spiritual stewardship; behavioral change, reflected in waste-sorting practices and economic participation, as evidenced by 269 active customers, outreach to 3,304 households, and the management of 99,947.6 kg of waste; and institutional change, reflected in the establishment of 29 waste bank units across 18 urban villages, the integration of environmental education into cross-classis congregational development, and increases in waste bank revenues ranging from 20% to 180%. The study further demonstrates that GMIT does not merely function as a legitimacy-granting partner for the Kampung Berseri CSR program, but rather serves as an agent of social change that transforms religious authority into enduring civic infrastructure for environmentally responsible behavior.