THREE COUNCILS MET FOR FELLOWSHIP AND MUTUAL SUPPORT

About thirty church leaders representing three ecumenical national councils (Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia) met in Cipayung, Indonesia from 1-3 Nov for fellowship and reflection over matters of common concern. It was the first time that such an event took place.

The idea of organizing such an event was mooted at an informal gathering of Councils’ representatives on the island of Batam, June 12-13, 2006.

Rev. Dr. A. A. Yewangoe, the Chairperson of the Communion of Churches of Indonesia (and as the hosting council) in his welcome speech, emphasized how beneficial such a fellowship between Councils will be, because as “neighbours the three countries share common concerns in terms of interfaith and church-state relationship.”

In the time together, the church leaders were able to get to know each other better, share in worship, and hear country reports. They came to realize that in some specific issues there were commonalities although each national context dealt with the issues differently.

On the last day of the meeting, a number of recommendations were decided upon. They are as follows:

1. Such inter-council fellowship meetings should be held from time to time.
2. Such meetings will remain informal and expand to include theological seminary heads and key youth leaders.
3. Such meetings shall provide an opportunity to focus on one issue of concern common to each national council.
4. Any recommendation for common action emanating from such meetings will come into effect after endorsement from Executive Committees of the respective Councils.

To start with, the leaders decided that Christian-Muslim relations should be a focus, where each national council shares information, resource and expertise with each other. A taskforce will be set up to undertake this task.

The meeting ended on a positive note, with the leaders looking forward to the next fellowship gathering scheduled to be held in early 2008 and it will be hosted by CCM.