SEMARANG, Indonesia--The Gereja Kristen Muria Indonesia (GKMI), a Mennonite synod with 16,302 members, celebrated its 80th anniversary December 5-6, 2000. Among its activities during 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 the city of Semarang and the acceptance into membership of a new congregation.
     Charles Christano, a past president of Mennonite World Conference and a long-time GKMI leader, gave the keynote address at the thanksgiving service. In a sermon based on Colossians 3:12-17, he reminded the people present that a Christian community should base itself on love. "Each has his/her own role, and meekness is a must," he said. "Gladly accepting reprimands and offering counsel are two interrelated practices of Christianity, besides continually teaching one another about Christian truth."
     There were six speakers at the forum. Its overarching theme was, "A Strong, Dynamic and Steadily-Growing Community." The presenters were a member of the Synod executive, a pastor, a board member of the Congregational Assembly, a female congregation member, a male congregation member and a member of the Regional Church Coordination committee.
     One of the presenters, Lukas Lukmana, a member of the Assembly Board, called on the GKMI congregations to pay more attention to the duties and well-being of their pastors. "A pastor," he stated in his lively presentation, "should function as a real shepherd of lambs. The shepherd's role and function are, among other things, to preserve the unity and to boost the quality as well as the quantity of the lambs. And the shepherd should build close ties both within and beyond GKMI."
     Three recommendations emerged out of the discussion at the forum: (1) to appoint "synodic bishops" to help mediate difficult conflicts in congregations and to accompany and guide church leaders and pastors in such situations; (2) to establish a library, a Mennonite Information Center, with books on Mennonite and GKMI themes; and (3) to help contextualize Mennonite doctrines in the various local congregations. GKMI leaders will give close attention to these proposals.
     A new congregation was accepted into membership at the anniversary celebration. It is a 255-member church in Ambarawa. GKMI now has 40 active member congregations.
     Paul H. Gunawan, chairperson of the anniversary committee, noted in an article in GKMI's periodical, "The Muria Bridge," that in GKMI's earlier years most of its members were of Chinese descent. "After 80 years of struggle," he continued, "the members are no longer homogenous, but becoming more and more heterogeneous. People of many different ethnic backgrounds in Indonesia are now participating in GKMI."
     "The communities have been mushrooming everywhere, from the inner core of cities to remote mountain villages," Gunawan explained. The mixed background of the synod's membership was put in visual form on the cover of the anniversary booklet "as strokes of different colors on one canvas, yet so harmonized."

-- Larry Kehler, MWC News Editor. The above information has been taken from "The Muria Bridge," Paul H. Gunawan, editor