Papua set to host synod

By LULU MAGINDE
THE Evangelical Lutheran church of Papua New Guinea (ELC PNG) will hold its 33rd synod in the Papua district for the first time and is ready to welcome delegates, synod committee chairman Somasi Singin says.
With the national synod, from Jan 9-15, will be officially opened on Sunday at the Sir John Guise Stadium with delegates to take part in seven days of planned festivities and activities.
“Papua district is made up of Central, National Capital District, Northern, Milne Bay, Gulf and Western, so these six provinces make up one district in the Lutheran church,” Singin said.
With the support of the University of PNG, around 1,000 delegates will be housed at the Games Village.
Committee deputy chairman Kingston Alu acknowledged the organising committee that helped organise the programme for the week-long synod.
The first batch of delegates are set to move into the Games Village tomorrow.
Alu said raising funds to run the synod had been their biggest challenge but they had organised drives in the six provinces and managed to bring in money despite the impact of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic last year.
“The situation in Port Moresby was particularly tough because of the Covid-19 measures were stricter so this affected plans to raise funds, but we had faith and knew that God was with us to help us with this synod.”
Committee treasurer Pim Kunipi said 80 per cent of the budget went towards the payment of venues and accommodation while food was provided by members of the district.
ELC PNG committee members and members of the host district had raised two thirds of the budget while the rest, an estimated K200,000, was raised through contributions from some Members of Parliament and Lutherans in the city.
He said the initial budget to stage the synod had been more that K1 million, but costs had been reduced after members of the Papua district had come in to provide food stuff, including live animals, to feed the delegates.
Committee secretary Adam Wangu was thankful for the support from members of the congregation for their help, financially and logistically. He said planning for the synod began last June but they had managed to organise themselves for the gathering.
Wangu said the National Capital District Commission had allocated three Apec buses to transport delegates over the course of the synod and thanked city manager Bernard Kipit for his help.
He added that 80 youth volunteers had been recruited to manage health and safety protocols around the university and the meeting venues.