Executive Pastor,
Vice-President of City Harvest Management Board,
City Harvest Church
Aries Zulkarnain graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Vanguard University, USA.
He is a founding member of City Harvest Church (CHC) and serves as part of the church’s senior management team, contributing to its leadership and development. He is actively involved in pastoral ministry, leadership training, and discipleship, and oversees a division of pastoral staff within the English-speaking congregation.
Rev Aries also leads the Bahasa Indonesia-speaking congregation in CHC and oversees the Indonesian Service. In addition, he is involved in theological education and serves as a lecturer at the City Harvest School of Theology.
Having been involved in various ecumenical dialogues over the past three decades, I have gained some important insights. Much progress has been made, yet the question remains: How can we, despite our diverse histories and identities, live and function as the Church together? Secularising tendencies in our societies that bring about new challenges, especially in the large urban centres. For the sake of a credible Christian witness, we need to be able to address common concerns together. There are fundamental spiritual desires that are not met in a secular context. The Christian churches have the opportunity to respond to these human yearnings, to a void that is felt, and present the Good News of Jesus Christ in relevant ways. Furthermore, as we live in increasingly pluralistic societies, we witness a growing polarisation of attitudes. This is evident in one-sided nationalist agendas and a discourse rooted in fear. The ecumenical work done so far can serve as a bridge for a common Christian witness “so that the world may believe.”