HKBP to hold national conference in Jakarta

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)