Jakarta's Catholic cathedral was full to overflowing on Sunday morning, despite grim warnings from police and Western embassies that extremist attacks should be expected in the lead-up to Christmas and the New Year.
"Of course the people have come here," said Ignasius Rio, a 17-year-old volunteer guard. "They have come here to pray; they are not frightened."
More than 50 volunteer guards, armed with nothing more than plastic identification passes, watched the doors to ensure no one carried in any suspicious parcels.
"Yes, but for Christmas there will be many more precautions," said Antonius Renal, 18, another guard.
"There will be a metal detector, and I have heard the police will help."
Christian congregations across Indonesia are braced for this week's Christmas celebrations. Along with choir practice and nativity scenes, priests and pastors have had to plan bomb checks and organise armed security.
On Christmas Eve 2000, terrorist network Jemaah Islamiah bombed 11 churches across Indonesia, killing 19 people. JI operations chief Hambali and Bali bomber Imam Samudra planned the attacks, which were carried out by JI operative Azahari bin Husin, among others. Hambali is in US custody and Samudra is on death row in Bali, but Azahari and other JI agents are still at large, prompting fears of further church attacks.
National police chief Da'i Bachtiar last week declared two-thirds of the nation's police force - about 140,000 officers - would be deployed to guard churches and other potential targets during the crucial period.
The cathedral, which sits opposite one of the biggest mosques in the southern hemisphere, was one of the churches shaken by the Christmas Eve bombs. Dean of the cathedral Father Wisnu Murti said security would be a co-operative effort with the military and the police. "We will use the tools we have to," he said. "Last year we used two metal detectors."
Naturally, he said, the congregation was nervous but big crowds were still expected to attend mass.
More than 125km west of Jakarta, the minister and staff at Sidang Kristus church in Sukabumi were also negotiating Christmas security. The 2000 blast at this church did not kill or injure anyone, but unsettled the congregation.
"We've tried to suggest to the police not to turn security for Christmas into something frightening, so the congregation becomes restless," said minister Wahyu Tridoyo. "We will try to make it something natural." Perhaps police could wear civilian clothes, he thought.
Indonesia's population of 220 million is 87per cent Muslim, with a substantial minority of Christians and smaller numbers of Hindus and Buddhists. Many experts believe JI has fomented the religious violence that has wracked the remote districts of Ambon and Poso.
In Poso, 1600km northeast of Jakarta, Christians are braced for the worst. In 2000, hundreds of people from the area were killed in inter-religious violence. The hatred has sporadically emerged again in recent months, leaving churches and houses burnt, and at least 14 Christians (including a pastor), and a handful of Hindus and Muslims dead.
Minister Ronald Ticoalu, from the Pentecostal Church in Poso, said preparations for Christmas services had been under way for three months.
"The problem is the conditions in Poso, which still haven't recovered, and consequently some of the congregation who live some distance from the centre of the city are uncomfortable about coming," he said, adding that military and police officers would help secure the church. "We really hope that with the Christmas spirit of peace, peace can be created in Poso."