Rival HKBP upset by synod in N. Sumatra

JAKARTA (JP): A group of followers of the Toba Batak Protestant Church is protesting to the government for allowing their rivals to hold a grand synod in North Sumatra, saying that the decision has fanned conflicts within the church.

Six members who are opposing the leadership of Bishop P.W.T. Simanjuntak were in Jakarta visiting a number of government agencies and the offices of local newspapers to vent their anger at the decision to hold the synod in Tarutung, about 225 kilometers southeast of Medan.

They said that the grand meeting, which got underway on Monday, violates a tacit agreement for the opposing camps to cool down after months of heated and often violent conflicts.

The church's followers, estimated at more than two million people, have been split into two camps. One supports the leadership of Bishop Simanjuntak who also appears to have the support of the government. Another camp groups people who oppose Simanjuntak and they have rallied their support behind Bishop S.A.E. Nababan who was ousted from the HKBP leadership by Simanjuntak.

"Giving the license to hold the synod won't solve the conflict in HKBP," Rev. Eire Hutapea of the HKBP 8th Java District told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The gathering will simply widen the gap between opposing groups and make reconciliation even more difficult, Eire said.

Rev. Wilson Napitupulu added that the Tarutung synod hampers the mediation efforts by the Communion of Indonesian Churches (PGI). The two camps met early this month under the aegis of PGI and they agreed to solve the dispute in a "religious way", he said.

He said the government's decision to grant the permit to hold the synod reflected yet further interference which is in violation of its own pledge to remain neutral. (02)