Asian ecclesial and ecumenical bodies commit to revitalising the ecumenical movement

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).

First Preference:
Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF)
Second Preference:
General Secretariat (GS)
15 July 2017

1Plenary session on ‘Being the Church in Asia: Our Witnessing Together’.

“For Being the Church in Asia, we must together enter into positive relations with people of other religions. This is where we can witness together. We need to face the challenges in Asia, especially when violence and terrorism plague Asia’s multicultural and pluralistic societies today. This is the context which God has given us and in which we are called to be His witness,” said Bishop Joseph Chusak Sirisut of the Federation of the Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) in a plenary session on ‘Being the Church in Asia: Our Witnessing Together’.

A three member panel, representing three major ecclesiastical and ecumenical bodies in Asia, the FABC of the Roman Catholic Church, the Asia Evangelical Alliance (AEA), and the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) emphasised in unison that the churches in Asia need to find more relevant and unique Asian ecclesiology in order to witness amidst diverse and pluralistic realities with a vision of seeking to build the Kingdom of God, at CCA’s international consultation on ‘Towards Revitalising the Ecumenical Movement in Asia’.

The consultation, held on 11-12 July 2017 at the CCA headquarters in Chiang Mai, Thailand, presented an opportunity for church and ecumenical leaders to engage in deliberations to construct a collective plan of action to promote increased ecumenical accompaniment among ecclesial, ecumenical and mission partners in Asia.

“A worldview that values power and domination and violence will see Christ’s meekness and humility as a vice; in contrast, Christians see Christ as the very exemplar of virtue, and so we evaluate his meekness and humility as virtues to which we aspire. The telos for Christians is Christ: Jesus Christ is the very embodiment of what we’re made for, of the end to which we are called. This is how we become human. This is what we’re here for,” General Secretary of the AEA, Rev. Dr. Richard Howell said.

Bishop Reuel Norman Marigza, General Secretary of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines said, “Yesterday, we used the imageries and metaphors of “Walking Together” to describe the ecumenical movement. But there is also repentance, not just finger-pointing or playing the blame game, but a serious critical reflection of our past and present; a self-criticism process. I would call this our “Wailing Together”. By doing that, perhaps, the winds of the Spirit may once more breathe on us and rekindle the flame so that our lament and mourning may be turned into joy and dancing. Perhaps then we can, in God’s kairos, “Waltz Together” in celebration.”

The session on Migration and Human Trafficking presented by the Director of the Asian Migrant Centre (AMC), Dr. Reiko Harima highlighted the major concerns for churches and the ecumenical movement in Asia and ways to engage the issue of the suffering people in collective ecumenical actions, while being engaged in our prophetic witness.

“Ecumenical education is limited to academicians, theologians and a few stakeholders. The concepts of ecumenism must go to people and not the other way around. We must go where they congregate and declare the message boldly. We often talk about the tension between ecclesial-oriented ecumenism and secular-oriented ecumenism. We often put the word “versus” between them. I would rather see the word “and” instead. Can’t we by now, find a new paradigm which accommodates both, ” Ms. Nancy Caluya, an officer of the Association of Christian Institutes for Social Concerns in Asia (ACISCA) asked the question in her presentation  on ‘Ecumenical Theological Education and Ecumenical Formation’.

The communique adopted at the end of the consultation called on churches, councils, theological institutions, and various ecumenical organisations in Asia to be engaged in the process of revitalising the Asian ecumenical movement and to “ensure the coherence of the ecumenical movement in Asia and greater unity of the churches and work for all God’s people with a sense of togetherness, as well as to participate in God’s mission.”

The consultation was organised in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of the CCA. Sixty selected church and ecumenical leaders representing various churches, councils, and Asian and global ecumenical organisations attended the consultation, several of them once actively participated in CCA’s leadership starting from 1957.