HKBP to hold national conference in Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): The Congregation of Toba Batak Protestant Churches (HKBP) will hold a national conference here on July 26 aimed at helping forge national unity.

Head of the organizing committee, Effendi Simbolon, said on Saturday, "The conference is basically being held to increase our community awareness of the social issues in this country.

"Hopefully, we can also come up with alternative suggestions for the government to overcome the national instability, especially in religious-related conflicts."

President Abdurrahman Wahid is scheduled to open the one-day event, which will be attended by 1,000 participants from 2,750 HKBP branches, including three churches in the United States, one in Germany and another one in Singapore.

Several delegations from international church organizations such as the World Council of Churches and Lutheran World Federation will attend as observers.

HKBP, established in 1861, is one of the oldest church communities in Indonesia. It boasts three million members, making it the largest Protestant church organizations in the country.

But in 1992, it was split into two opposing camps during the election of a new chief to replace Bishop S.A.E. Nababan.

Conflict often spilled over into physical clashes among the rival camps.

A military-sponsored extraordinary grand synod held in 1993, which was opposed to Nababan, elected Simanjuntak to lead the church until 1999.

Nababan's supporters have fiercely stuck by their demand that the election be repeated and that Nababan is the legitimate head of the church.

Einar M. Sitompul, a member of the HKBP central assembly, expressed hope the meeting could also bring more maturity to the organization, which has been plagued by bickering.

"So this is like a momentum for us to be more mature in our faith," said Sitompul. (09)