TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Pastor of reformist church fired for alleged sexual misconduct, opaque money management
The pastor has denied all the allegations, which he said were based on an "anonymous" letter.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Illustration photo of a Catholic Church. (Shutterstock/BEAUTY STUDIO)
A
Reformed Baptist church in Jakarta, Gereja Komunitas Anugerah (GKA), has dismissed a pastor without honor, after accusing him of sexual misconduct and poor governance of money solicited from individuals and humanitarian groups.
The priest, SAR, had been known for his initiative to provide a halfway house for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, survivors of the 1965 communist purge and former Papuan political prisoners, which is in line with the church’s role as a progressive enclave.
In 2018, the Post wrote an article about his endeavor to build a halfway house and he was also one of the Post’s sources for news pertaining to Papuan political prisoners who were jailed in the National Police’s Mobile Brigade prison in Depok, West Java, last year.
However, GKA accused SAR of committing sexual misconduct. GKA formed an ad-hoc investigation team to trace the allegations in a victim’s report the church had received.
“[SAR] had violated the principle of loyalty in a Christian marriage, involving psychological manipulation and the use of power relations while serving as pastor,” the church stated in a public statement on Tuesday.
The church, which was established in 2013 and had dozens of congregants, also accused SAR of public deception with his clergyman status, as he failed to prove the validity of his ministerial and academic titles.
According to one of the church’s congregants, Rinto Pangaribuan, SAR had claimed that in the Reformed Baptist tradition, a pastor was appointed by the congregation, and SAR said he was appointed by the first GKA congregation.
