S. A. E. Nababan

Soritua Albert Ernst Nababan (24 May 1933 – 8 May 2021) was an Indonesian Lutheran minister who was elected as the ephorus (bishop) of the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) at its 48th ''Sinode Godang'' (Great Synod) on 31 January 1987.

Born into a family of teachers, Soritua attended primary and secondary education in North Sumatra before migrating to Jakarta to pursue a theological career. After being consecrated as a priest in 1956, he briefly served in Medan before pursuing further studies in Germany. He left the country in 1963 with a doctorate degree in theology and held offices in the East Asian Christian Conference and the Council of Churches in Indonesia before being elected as Ephorus of HKBP in 1987.

Soritua's tenure as ephorus was marred with conflicts between him and the government-backed opposition group, which culminated in the takeover of HKBP by the government and the split of HKBP following the 51st ''Sinode Godang'' of HKBP in 1992. Although he was unrecognized by the government as the ''Ephorus'' after 1992, he was still recognized by various international ecumenical organizations. He also continued to be active in various Christian organizations during his decade-long tenure.

The split ended after both parties were reconciled in 1998, and Soritua handed his ''Ephorus'' seat to an acting officeholder. He was elected as one of the presidents of the World Council of Churches in 2006 for an eight-year term. He died on 8 May 2021. Provided by Wikipedia