Building a Pentecostal church in Bangka-Belitung.

About 300 Muslim residents of the Kace, Mendo Barat area of Bangka island, Bangka-Belitung province, near the capital Pangkal Pinang, protested on the 13th the building of a pentecostal church in the district because, they say, there are only a handful of Christian families living nearby.

A meeting was held in the neighbourhood hall attended by residents, representatives of the Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI), policemen, local government officials, and some Pentecostal pastors. Those opposed to the church said that the Pentecostals were trying to build the church in a secretive, dishonest way. Originally they had said that the building was going to be a family home, but now wanted to turn it into a church, it was claimed.

One person, Rudi, complained that there were already a lot of churches in the area, even though the number of Christians was small, and he questioned why yet another church had to be built.

As the meeting went on protestors demanded that the church be torn down but pastor Sinaga refused. People began getting angry and shouting and the meeting ended without any agreement, while many residents then threatened that they would tear down the church themselves, given that the law was on their side.

A representative from the Department of Religion urged those of minority faiths not to be too aggressive in building houses of worship if the number of worshippers nearby was small. [1]

Usman Fathan of the Ulema Council, MUI, in Bangka Belitung, said on the 24th of April 2007 that the rules for building houses of worship have to be obeyed. However he said he did not agree with people taking the law into their own hands.

The government of Bangka has already disallowed the conversion of the house in question to a church.

Bangka Belitung has a population of one million people of whom 79% are Muslim, 9% Buddhist, 9% Christian and the remainder Confucian or Hindu. [2]

1. ↑1 antara
2. ↑2 republika

Tags: Christianity, Religion, Sumatra