The Glen Waverley Uniting Church PSALTERLink to CouncilMinutes20170222
UPDATE ON SISTER CHURCH RELATIONSHIP WITH CHURCH IN INDONESIA
On Monday 13 th Feb I met with Lucky Kalonta who provided more information about his home congregation in Indonesia. Lucky had just returned from there.
“Riedel” is a congregation of GMIM, the Indonesian Evangelical Church which is in a region of Manado in Northern Sulawesi, Indonesia. The denomination is a partner of the Uniting Church. The city is located just North of the equator and has a population of 430,000. It is a strong Christian region. The church was established in 1989.
The church has a lovely building. There is one minister in charge with four assisting ministers. There are 1543 members and 37 elders. The church includes 265 children, 128 teenagers, and 203 youth. There are 3 services on Sunday – 5.30 am, 9 am and 6 pm. There are active woman’s and men’s groups and choirs. The congregation life is busy seven days a week.
The purpose of the sister church relationship is not money. The congregation is not poor. Lucky sees the need for the congregation to broaden their horizons. They are inward focused. There is currently no relationship ship with any church in Australia. In the past there was a relationship with Camberwell Uniting Church when Rev Tony Floyd was minister. Tony has visited the church on several occasions to assist them as did members of his church. Members from Indonesia visited here. Two moderators of this Synod have visited the congregation.
An example of a benefit is with the Sunday School. In the past Children were simply taught orally for the whole session. After exposure to Sunday School in Australia activities were introduced to assist and strengthen learning.
Smaller and poorer congregations look to “Riedel” for ideas.
A FURTHER OPPORTUNITY
Lucky leads a small fellowship of mostly Indonesian members. In the past, they were members of Camberwell Uniting but that changed due to a misunderstanding. Lucky has asked can his fellowship of 15 – 17 people meet at Glen Waverley Uniting Church once or twice a month. Their desire is to become part of Glen Waverley Uniting Church and become members here. They would meet in room 1 early enough on Sunday afternoon to be finished by 4 pm. Their service is in simple English. Some of the members could not understand well enough our morning service to attend these services. They hope to join some of our fellowship groups.
I have spoken with Warren Greenwood as chair of property who is supportive. I would like to propose that we allow a 3 month trial of this fellowship group meeting at GWUC and if both parties are then happy that the fellowship members then be encouraged to seek membership of this congregation. There would be no charge for use of the property but we would expect them to fit in with other groups.
Rev Neil Peters