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Semarang, Indonesia
Indonesian Mennonites hold celebrations, summit; attend inter-religious peace event


The Gereja Kristen Muria Indonesia (GKMI), a Mennonite synod with 16,302 members, celebrated its 80th anniversary December 5-6, 2000. Among the activities of this two-day celebration were a thanksgiving service, a forum with several presentations on topics related to the well-being of the church, a tour of Semarang, and the acceptance into membership of a new congregation.

Charles Christano, a former president of Mennonite World Conference and a long-time GKMI leader, gave the keynote address. Basing his sermon on Colossians 3:12, he reminded his audience that a Christian community should base itself on love. “Gladly accepting reprimands and offering counsel are two interrelated practices of Christianity, besides continually teaching one another about Christian truth,” he said.

Lukas Lukmana, a presenter at the forum, called on GKMI congregations to pay more attention to the duties and well-being of their pastors. The pastor’s role is to preserve unity within the congregation and to build close ties within and beyond the GKMI.

Three recommendations emerged out of the discussion at the forum:

To appoint “synod bishops” to help mediate difficult conflicts in congregations and to guide church leaders and pastors in such situations. To establish a Mennonite Information Centre with books on Mennonite and GKMI themes. To help contextualize Mennonite doctrines in the various local congregations.

A new congregation was accepted into membership at the anniversary celebration. It is a 255-member church in Ambarawa. The GKMI now has 40 active member congregations.

Paul H. Gunawan, chairperson of the anniversary committee, noted in an article in the GKMI’s periodical The Muria Bridge that in GKMI’s earlier years most of its members were of Chinese descent. Today, people of many different ethnic backgrounds in Indonesia make up the GKMI.

Historic summit

The GKMI organized a break-through summit with leaders from the two other Mennonite synods of Indonesia: the 65,000-member Gereja Injili de Tanih Jawa (GITJ) and the 6500-member Sinode Jemaat Kristen Indonesia (JKI).

The purpose of the summit was to hear about each other’s work and to look at ways to formalize their cooperative endeavours.

The summit, which followed the “Reconciliatory Conference” of the GITJ synod in November 2000 (see news, MBH, Mar. 2, 2001), was described by one observer as “friendly and warm”.

Eddy Sujipto, the presiding officer of GKMI, in his opening speech, congratulated the other synods on some of their recent accomplishments, such as the GITJ reconciliation and JKI’s nearly completed building project at the Sangkakala Theological Institute campus in Kopeng.

Sujipto also listed some of the cooperative programs of the three synods, such as the International Visitor Exchange Program (IVEP), Indonesian Mennonite Discipleship Training, and youth camp work.

There was good dialogue at the summit. At the conclusion of the sessions, a three-person committee, with one representative from each of the synods, was named to follow-up on some of the items suggested during the discussions. This committee also will be responsible to develop plans for the formation of a joint association of the three synods.

Inter-religious peace event

A special inter-religious peace event was held shortly after Christmas in Solo, Indonesia. Various religious groups participated, including Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist and Christian organizations. The Mennonite community also was involved.

The peace symbol used for this event was a “peace cone” to demonstrate the setting aside of differences within the community based on religion, race, tribal affiliation and social status. The rice cone is a symbol of Javanese culture of eternal salvation.

Part of the peace cone demonstration, which 3000 people attended, was held at a palace complex in Surakarta. Participants included both grassroots people and political and religious leaders. “Sinuwun”, known as the “King of Solo”, offered his condolences for the bloodshed that had been occurring recently in many parts of Indonesia. He invited those responsible for the destruction to repent of their wrongdoings and to consider showing respect to fellow human beings.

Other speakers at the peace event were three religious leaders: KH Muhammad Dian Nai, a Muslim; Father Mardi, a Christian; and Tjie Tjai Ing, a Buddhist monk. Nai urged that the growing harmony among people of different faiths and cultures should be encouraged. He said strong communal ties can prevent situations where rabble-rousers are able to incite disharmony and riots in a community. In order to achieve peace in this way, it is important for lay people to be involved in the peace movement, he said. But he underscored the role of religious leaders in this as being crucial because many people in Indonesia still observe the patronage model.

Peace demonstrators planted 1000 Melinjo trees near Solo.

Mesach Krisetya, president of the Mennonite World Conference, who lives in Indonesia, said many people are working to cause disharmony among the various faith groups. Religion is being used by some to generate hatred towards those of other faiths. This can have disastrous effects. Every member of a religious community should take a role in achieving peace because a religion-based conflict is hard to stop. People, especially leaders, should not use religion as a political instrument, he said.

 – adapted from reports by MWC news editor Larry Kehler, with files from Paul H. Gunawan & Eleanor Miller

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Last modified June 4, 2001.

© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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