Asian Church and Ecumenical Leaders’ Conference opens with grand opening session and celebrative worship

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).

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02 May 2023

Over 100 church and ecumenical leaders from across Asia are participating in the CCA’s Asian Church and Ecumenical Leaders”s Conference (ACELC)

Jakarta, Indonesia: The Asian Church and Ecumenical Leaders’ Conference (ACELC), organised by the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) in association with the Protestant Church in the Western Part of Indonesia (GPIB) and the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI), was inaugurated in a grand opening session with worship.

The ACELC, a high-level summit of over 100 church and ecumenical leaders from across Asia, is being held from 1 to 5 May 2023 at the Millennium Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia.

His Beatitude Dr Theodosius Mar Thoma Metropolitan, the Supreme Head of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church in India, delivered the homily on Luke 10:25-37, the parable of the Good Samaritan, during the opening worship.

“The question asked is rightfully corrected and answered by the Teacher—we move from ‘Who is my neighbour?’ to ‘To whom shall I be a neighbour?’,” said the Mar Thoma Metropolitan.

“The call to common witness and accompaniment thus becomes an admonition to break through that inner deafness which we all suffer from, and which prevents us from hearing the cry of the weak and those who struggle for peace with justice. Christian witness is not a mere recitation of words, but becomes truly meaningful when the church responds to the pain and pathos of brokenness,” said His Beatitude Dr Theodosius Mar Thoma.

His Beatitude further expounded upon five facets of the theological understanding of accompaniment, namely, mutuality, inclusivity, vulnerability, empowerment, and sustainability.

The opening worship was led by clergy from the GPIB and featured the GPIB Paulus and Balle Keroncong choirs.

Warm greetings of welcome were offered by Rev. Paulus Kariso Rumambi, the Moderator of GPIB, and Rev. Gomar Gultom, the General Chairperson of the PGI.

The CCA General Secretary Dr Mathews George Chunakara welcomed the participants and expressed his profound gratitude to the leadership of the GPIB and PGI for supporting the ACELC. He remarked that the Indonesian churches have had a long tradition of extending hospitality and of welcoming the Asian ecumenical movement, beginning from the formation of the East Asia Christian Conference (EACC), the forerunner of the CCA, at Prapat, Sumatra, Indonesia, in 1957.

There was also a special period of remembrance devoted to commemorating the life and witness of the CCA’s former Moderator, Archbishop Dr Willem T.P. Simarmata from the Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (HKBP) Church in Indonesia, who passed away in June last year. The remembrance references were made by the CCA Acting Moderator, Bishop Dhiloraj Canagasabey from Sri Lanka, and the Acting Vice-Moderator, Bishop Reuel Marigza from the Philippines.

Archbishop Simarmata was elected to the position of Moderator of the CCA at the 14th CCA General Assembly in 2015 and was also a Central Committee member of the World Council of Churches and Moderator of the United Evangelical Mission.

More photos can be found here.