25th General Assembly of the National Council of Churches in India, 7th-13th February, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India

Programme Review and Programme Direction

Two key deliberative sessions during the 15th CCA General Assembly are the Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions.

The Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions will both be conducted in three groups relating to the CCA’s programme areas, namely, (i) General Secretariat (GS), (ii) Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF); and (iii) Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia (PD).

Assembly participants will have the option to join one of three groups for both the Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions. For the sake of coherence, the assigned group will remain the same for both sessions.

General Secretariat

The General Secretariat oversees the coordination of programmatic, administrative, and financial activities of the organization. The GS comprises various departments such as church and ecumenical relations, relations with ecumenical partners, finance, administration, and communications, which provide crucial support and services for the implementation of programs and contribute to the overall functioning of the CCA.

Programmes: Relations with member churches and councils, ecumenical partners; advocacy at the United Nations; ecumenical responses to emerging issues in solidarity; income development and finance; and communications.

Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF)

Under the MU programme area, the CCA accompanies Asian churches to strengthen their mission and witness in multi-religious contexts, revitalise and nurture church unity and the Asian ecumenical movement, and develop contextual theological foundations.

Programmes: Asian Movement for Christian Unity (AMCU); Congress of Asian Theologians (CATS); Asian women doing theology in the context of wider ecumenism; contextualisation of theology in Asia and ecumenical theological education.

The EF programme area focuses on nurturing and developing ecumenical leaders in Asia. The programme aims to enhance spiritual formation and theological understanding, enabling people to actively engage in ecumenical dialogue and collaboration.

Programmes: Ecumenical Enablers’ Training in Asia (EETA); Asian Ecumenical Institute (AEI); Youth and Women Leadership Development; Ecumenical Spirituality and Nurturing of Contextual Liturgical Traditions; Asia Sunday

Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia and Advocacy (PD)

The BP programme area is dedicated to promoting peace, justice, and reconciliation in Asia’s diverse contexts. Through training, advocacy, and dialogue, the programme addresses the root causes of conflicts, empowers communities, and fosters sustainable peacebuilding initiatives.

Programmes: Pastoral Solidarity Visits; Churches in Action for Moving Beyond Conflict and Resolution; Young Ambassadors of Peace in Asia (YAPA); Ecumenical Women’s Action Against Violence (EWAAV); Eco-Justice for Sustainable Peace in the Oikos.

The PD programme area focuses on promoting justice, human rights, and social transformation in Asia. Through advocacy, capacity-building, and raising awareness, the programme addresses systemic injustice, empowers marginalised communities, and advocates for prophetic actions and meaningful change.

Programmes: Human Rights advocacy; Migration, Statelessness, and Trafficking in Persons; Asian Ecumenical Disability Advocacy Network; Asian Advocacy Network on the Dignity and Rights of Children (AANDRoC); Ecumenical Solidarity Accompaniment and Diakonia in Asia (ESADA); Health and Healing; Good Governance; Action Together to Combat HIV and AIDS in Asia (ATCHAA).

No preference updated.

30 April 2004
christian conference of Asia, Asia christianity

  The CCA Youth Secretary attended the 25th General Assembly of the NCC India as a Fraternal Delegate representing CCA. A brief greetings was presented to the Assembly on behalf of CCA. Among other agenda, the Assembly discussed: 1. The life and ministry of the NCCI is the previous years since the last Assembly in Ranchi; 2. Reports of the President, the General Secretary, and the Treasurer were discussed and received with appreciation; 3. A new group of Officers [which included a President, three Vice-Presidents, and the Treasurer], and the Executive Committee for the term of this Assembly were elected. 4. Reports of the eight pre-Assembly Forums were received. [Women, North-East India Concerns, Dalit and Adivasi Concerns, Stewards Program, Youth, Interfaith Group, HIV/AIDS, and Life of the Church]. Noticeably, the Life of the Church Forum focussed on Corruption in the Church and Society, a topic which is not so openly discussed in forums like GAs of NCCI. 5. The Assembly re-iterated its committed to keeping the Dalit agenda at the center of its mission and life. Importantly, the NCCI was re-structured from its present organization in Units and Desks into five Commissions. They were outlined as follows: 1. Commission on Mission, Ecumenism and Unity. 2. Commission on Transformation of Society [Youth, Women, URM]. 3. Commission on Polity and National Governance. 4. Commission of Life: Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation. 5. Commission on Dalits, Indigenous People and Tribals. New commissioners were elected. Outlining the various successes and failures, happy and challenging moments during the past five years, Rev. Dr. Ipe Joseph, the General Secretary of NCCI in his Report to the Assembly writes, We are proud to be citizens of this great nation. Through the Council God has given us an opportunity to lead Gods people and stand up boldly for gospel values. Now is the time to strengthen our prophetic engagement and build a counter culture, a culture of truth and peace. Let us together dedicate ourselves for this purpose. This Assembly also marked 90 years of NCCI existence and was an occasion to celebrate this. The Assembly was hosted by the Tirunelveli Diocese of the Church of South India.