From Tentena for the Nation

At the invitation of the Synod of Central Sulawesi Christian Church (GKST), on March 15th to 16th, 2011, the Institut Leimena gave its 13th Civic Education course in Tentena, Poso district, Central Sulawesi. Tentena town is situated about 7 hours overland journey towards the southeastern town of Palu, with the distance 280 km. The GKST synod headquarter is located in this town, near the beautiful Poso Lake. The Civic Education course was attended by about 60 participants, mostly GKST pastors. Others included faculty members of the Tentena School of Theology and Tentena Christian University (Unkrit), as well as several legislators from the districts of Poso and Morowali. The teaching team for this trip were Budi H. Setiamarga, Ph.D. (Director of Leimena Center for Policy Analysis), Dr. Maruarar Siahaan (Constitutional Court judge for 2003-2009 and Chairman of the Center for Indonesian Constitutional Jurisprudence), and Matius Ho (Leimena Executive Director).

Rev. Ishak Pole, Chairman of the GKST Synod, opened the two-day course with a worship service. The course started with two panel discussions on “Understanding the Ideals of Indonesia and the Need to Amend the 1945 Constitution” led by Matius Ho and “The Role of the Constitutional Court in Guarding the Constitutionality of Our Laws and Regulations” by Maruarar Siahaan. The discussion sessions that followed were very lively, judging from response of the participants. Budi H. Setiamarga then invited the participants to “Becoming Responsible Citizens” in their dual status as Christ’s disciples and also as Indonesian citizens. In that way, every Christian can be a light for the glory of God in their communities and in the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.

The second day started with Budi H. Setiamarga addressing the “Meaning of the Constitutional Amendment”. Participants learned the important changes in our state administration after the amendment and their implications to us. Maruarar Siahaan then talked about “The Role of Citizens in Ensuring the Implementation of the Constitution”, encouraging the citizens to engage actively in upholding the Constitution so that any legislation could be aligned with our Constitution. Like the first day, participants were very enthusiastic in the discussion session to further understand the Constitution. In the workshop session, Matius Ho introduced the “Citizen Discussion” program as an effective way for the citizens to understand important issues in the public life. Workshop was conducted in small groups, discussing Jakob Tobing’s article on “Indonesian Culture According to the Constitution: Exposition of the Constitution’s Article 32″. Budi H. Setiamarga continued the workshop on how think “constitutionally” using case studies of legislative bills and provincial laws.

The 13th Civic Education course was closed with a worship service led by Rev. Abishai Sigilipu, Deputy Treasurer of the GKST Synod, with the hope that this two-day training had encouraged and equipped the participants to engage as responsible citizens in the society for a better Indonesia.