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Relocated Bogor church inauguration splits GKI Yasmin congregation
The newly inaugurated church, rechristened Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) West Bogor, has divided the Yasmin congregation as several members refuse to use the new building.
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n a case that has become a case study of Indonesia’s struggle with religious intolerance, the Bogor city administration in West Java finally inaugurated the new Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) Yasmin building on Easter Sunday. But the new church, rechristened GKI West Bogor, has divided the Yasmin congregation as several members refuse to use the new building.
As a sign of just how symbolically important the church was, the inauguration was held with much fanfare and two ministers in attendance.
Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD and Home Minister Tito Karnavian spoke at the event, with Bogor Mayor Bima Arya and National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) chairwoman Atnike Nova Sigiro also joining the inauguration.
“The inauguration of this church is the embodiment of the state’s commitment to guarantee the constitutional right of its people, especially those of Christian faith,” Mahfud said on Sunday.
The GKI Yasmin congregation, named so for its proximity to the Yasmin Park residential area, initially obtained its building permits in 2006, with then-mayor Diani Budiarto attending the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the church in its original location – some 1.5 kilometers from the church inaugurated on Sunday.
But after protests from locals, Diani succumbed to public pressure and freezed the church’s permit in 2008. While the congregation’s legal team continued its efforts to challenge the city’s decision, with the Supreme Court even ruling in the church’s favor in 2010, the Bogor administration instead revoked the church’s building permit entirely in 2011.
Negotiations stalled until 2015 when Bima, who was elected mayor in 2014, proposed the relocation of the church to a new site about 1.5 km down the road. By August 2021, the Bogor administration finally granted the congregation with a new building permit for the new site with the groundbreaking ceremony following in December.
Read also: ‘We felt left behind’: Yasmin church congregation rejects unilateral relocation
The relocation, however, tore the church congregation apart. While Bima and the Bogor administration characterized the new building permit and location as the only possible move forward, several members of the congregation described the relocation as a pragmatic compromise and insisted on staying at the original site.
Bona Sigalingging, former spokesman for the GKI Yasmin congregation, said the inauguration of the new building marked a failure of the state to uphold the state ideology Pancasila and the Constitution.
“The new church inaugurated by the Bogor mayor isn’t the same one listed in the original building permit dated July 13, 2006," clarified Bona in a statement sent to The Jakarta Post. “It shouldn’t be misconstrued as a resolution [when it is a] blatant disregard by a public official of the court’s legally binding decision."
Read also: Bogor church wins case at S. Court
While Reverend Suhud Setyo Wardono from the GKI synod, the mother church of GKI Yasmin, attended the inauguration, several members of the congregation adamantly refused to use the new church building. Still using the name GKI Yasmin, the congregation celebrated Easter in a fellow member’s home as shared by the congregation’s social media account.
Despite the division, the Bogor city administration continued to mark the inauguration of GKI West Bogor as the resolution to the 15-year conflict. “I regret that I couldn’t resolve the conflict, but there’s also relief as, after 15 years, there is finally a happy ending for everyone," Bogor Mayor Bima said on Sunday.
Nevertheless, Bima has managed a notable turnaround in polishing Bogor’s reputation. While Bogor was named the most intolerant city in Indonesia by the human rights advocacy group Setara Institute in 2015, the same study conducted at the end of 2022 had Bogor listed as the 17th most tolerant city out of 98 cities in Indonesia.
