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everal Indonesian Christian groups agreed that they would support hosting several churches under the same roof due to high urban real estate demand, while others said such a move was no solution for increasing religious intolerance.

The Indonesian Church Communion (PGI), which is comprised of 80 percent of Indonesia’s Protestant churches, said sharing the same building among several congregations has been long-standing practice for PGI members due to a dearth of vacant space and difficulties in obtaining construction permits.

“Many denominations have accepted the idea but many others opposed it. The PGI has no authority to force members to accept. Sharing a building for rotating church services is okay in principle for the Christian faith and many churches in several cities have already implemented the idea,” PGI chairman Andreas Anangguru Yewangoe told the The Jakarta Post after meeting with Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto.

Andreas said that Sangir-Talaud Church, Pasundan Church and Indonesian Christian Church have long-shared the same building on Jl. Kramat Raya in Central Jakarta, adding that hosting several churches on different floors of the same multistory building was another alternative.

Indonesian Bishops’ Council (KWI) chairman Monsignor Martinus Dogma Situmorang said he welcomed the idea of hosting several churches in the same building.

“In many areas, Catholic communities have shared the same buildings with other churches and in fact, this has strengthened their ecumenical spirit” he told the Post on Monday.

However such idea was not a long-term solution to conflicts between religious majorities and minorities in Java, he said.

The Christian minority in Java has found it difficult to build new churches in suburban areas such as Bekasi, Depok and Tangerang in Greater Jakarta, he said.

According to reports, Muslims have been wary about the increasing number of churches built in housing complexes and viewed it as an attempt at proselytization.

Protestant groups have said that the increase in churches was due to growing denominations, and that larger denominations could sometimes splinter into smaller ones, each wanting their own buildings.

Indonesian Evangelical Churches Communion (PGLII) chairman Robinson Nainggolan said the government must be concerned about national disintegration due to its discriminatory policy in treating religious communities, saying that ‘discriminatory’ ministerial regulations had given rise to exclusive communities.

Two Protestant church elders were attacked recently on their way to a religious service in Bekasi in an incident that renewed discussion on a joint ministerial regulation that stipulated several requirements for a religious groups to establish a places of worship.

“The PGLII has had the most church buildings closed by force in several cities and that has been rarely exposed to the public. To be practical and effective, the government should allow Christians to use their homes as churches,” Nainggolan said.

“Religious leaders should not manipulate the majority to continue to show intolerance to minorities because it will likely lead to a national disintegration. The core solution is how all sides, including the government, can encourage people to accept differences and pluralism which, if well-maintained, is a national strength in achieving progress,” Yewangoe said.