LIKAS (CS, DS) – Around 100 Christian members from the Roman Catholic Church (RC), Basel Christian Church of Malaysia (BCCM) and the Protestant Church of Sabah (PCS) attended the signing ceremony held at the 5th Sabah-Heilbronn Ecumenical Partnership Day July 13 at the Likas BCCM Kyrugma House.
The event, organised by the Sabah-Heilbronn Ecumenical Partnership (SHEP), saw the participation of the three RC dioceses of Kota Kinabalu, Keningau and Sandakan, the BCCM and the PCS.
partnership
In his address, Archbishop Lee said the occasion was a historical one because a new format of Partnership Agreement was agreed upon and drawn up.
He said he remembered the signing of the bilateral partnership charter between the Catholic and Protestant Churches of Heilbronn, and the Catholic (himself) and BCCM (Bishop Thu) in Sabah on 19 Aug 1990 at the Sacred Heart Parish Hall.
At that time, he continued, the PCS was not yet part of the signatories and there was only one Catholic diocese in Sabah.
Nineteen years later, he added, “PCS has actively joined the activities of the partnership and we have two additional Catholic dioceses, namely Keningau and Sandakan.”
With this enlargement of membership in the Sabah component, he said, it is “right that a new format of partnership agreement is needed.”
The archbishop said the idea was mooted by the SHEP Committee and welcomed by the Heilbronn partners.
He told the assembly that the Catholic and Protestant Deans of Heilbronn “put down their signatories to the new format, witnessed by Pastor Jimmy Assam, the PCS president.”
“This evening, in conjunction with the Partnership Day, we will witness the signing ceremony of the partner churches in Sabah,” he continued.
He explained about the new format:
“Unlike the 1990 charter, the new format of Partnership Agreement is no longer bilateral, between Protestants and Protestants, or between Catholics and Catholics.”
Instead, he said, the new format is “ecumenical” in the sense that all the signatories of the partner churches are in one document.
This, he explained, is a “significant step in our journey.”
He then stressed on the local dimension of the partnership:
“This means that while we continue to forge closer friendship with our partners in Heilbronn, we also need to work closely among the Catholic, the BCCM and the PCS in Sabah, especially in building the Kingdom of God and continuing the mission of our Lord Jesus.”
Dominic Lim, founding member of the first SHEP Committee, then briefed the assembly through a slide presentation on the background of the partnership, its aims and objectives, its progress and development.
One main activity of the partnership is the exchange of cordial and mutual ecumenical visits organised once in two years between the churches of both countries.
The members then viewed a pre-recorded video greetings from Rev Otto Friedish, the Dean of the Protestant Church of Heilbronn.
He also announced that next visit by the Heilbronn ecumenical group to Sabah will be in 2010.
The heads of the churches then proceeded to sign the partnership agreement witnessed by Assam and Rev Marunsai Dawai, SHEP chairman, and other committee members.
After the signing ceremony, there was an exchange of documents and souvenirs as well as presentation of gifts from the committee to the signatories.
Four local participants of the 2008 trip to Heilbronn, shared their experiences there: Ms Yap Pak Tsun (BCCM), Fr Rudolf Joannes (RC Keningau), Ms Juraya Masandu (PCS) and Dennis Patrick (RC KK) on the theme: Migration, Integration and Community Building.
The event ended with a fellowship meal.
