Asian Ecumenical Institute (AEI – 2024) commences

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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22 July 2024

Participants of Asian Ecumenical Institute (AEI – 2024)

Chiang Mai, Thailand: The Asian Ecumenical Institute (AEI), organized by the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) in collaboration with the World Council of Churches, commenced on 22 July 2024 at the CCA headquarters on the Payap University campus in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Twenty-five young budding ecumenists from across Asia are attending this year’s month-long residential training programme.

The theme of AEI – 2024 is Creation Care and Eco-Justice: Our Faith and ‘With-ness’ and is anchored in the theme of CCA’s 15th General Assembly, God, In Your Spirit, Renew and Restore Your Creation.

The General Secretary of CCA, Dr Mathews George Chunakara, in his opening address welcomed this year’s cohort and expressed his joy in seeing young ecumenists attending the Institute from lesser-represented areas in the Asian ecumenical movement such as Laos, Myanmar, Timor Leste, West Papua as well as representatives from the Mae La refugee camp, one of nine camps along the Thai-Myanmar border housing refugees from Myanmar.

The CCA General Secretary highlighted the unique opportunity that AEI participants receive during the month-long training programme to live, learn, and interact with people from diverse Asian cultures and ecclesial backgrounds, and gain knowledge from some of the best resource persons in different fields.

Since 2016, the CCA has been emphasising and prioritising the Asian Ecumenical Institute, an important component of ecumenical formation in Asia. The AEI has been organised annually since then and several young people have received training. It even switched to a virtual format when the world came to a standstill during the years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Mathews George Chunakara delivered the first two thematic addresses of AEI titled “Care for the Creation in God’s Oikos” and ‘’Ecumenism, Economics and Ecology”. He provided a comprehensive introduction to the concepts of oikos, oikumene, and care for creation in the oikumene.

The CCA General Secretary also elaborated on the need to nurture sustainable communities in the oikumene, the interconnection of ecumenism, economics and ecology, the importance of upholding the integrity of creation, and the crucial role humans are expected to play as stewards in the oikos to protect and uphold the dignity of God’s creation.

Other sessions that will take place during the month-long training include “God's Redemptive Providence in God's Creation”, “Christian Spirituality and Transformational Leadership”, “Ecumenical Missiology and Grassroots Ecumenism”, “Mission as Peace-Building and Reconciliation”, “Ecumenism and  Ecumenical Movement”, “Indigenous Spiritualities and Christian Engagement”, “Good Governance and Integrity Leadership in the Church”, “Christian Women’s Action for Creation Care”, “Posthumanism and Missiological Hope”, among many others.

For more photos, please click here: (Photo Gallery): Asian Ecumenical Institute (AEI – 2024) Opening