Bishop B.D. Mondal, the first national Bishop of the Church of Bangladesh passes away

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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30 June 2019

Bp-Mondal 2

Bangladesh’s first national bishop and the former moderator of the Church of Bangladesh, Bishop Barnabas D. Mondal, passed away on Saturday 29 June 2019 in Dhaka.

Bishop B.D Mondal actively participated in the Asian and Bangladesh ecumenical movement in various capacities. He served on various committees of the East Asia Christian Conference (EACC), the forerunner of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) in the 1960s and 1970s.

Ordained as a priest in the former Anglican Church in East Pakistan in 1964, he was consecrated as the first national bishop of the Church of Bangladesh on 16 February 1975. The Church of Bangladesh came into being as an independent church after Bangladesh became independent in 1971.

As the Bishop of Dhaka diocese and Moderator of the Church of Bangladesh for almost three decades, Bishop Mondal’s contributions in laying foundations for the present structure of a united church in the country have been widely recognised. In particular, Bishop Mondal consistently encouraged more active participation of the lay leaders in the congregations of the Church of Bangladesh.

The CCA General Secretary Dr. Mathews George Chunakara expressed condolences to the bereaved family of Bishop B.D. Mondal, and the members of the Church of Bangladesh.

Recollecting his close associations with Bishop Mondal during his time as a staff of  the World Council of Churches and the Christian Conference of Asia, Dr. Mathews George Chunakara stated that Bishop Mondal’s contributions to the Church of Bangladesh and the ecumenical movement  will ever be remembered.

"His strong passion and interest to develop a united theological education platform in Bangladesh were evident through the initiative he took to create a wider national structure for promoting ecumenical theological education in the country. Bishop Mondal was instrumental in initiating the Bangladesh Ecumenical Foundation and Association for Theological Education (BEEFAT). He was also one of the initiators of the South Asia Theological Education Solidarity Fund which is being facilitated through the coordination of the World Council of Churches”, Dr. Mathews George Chunakara added.

The funeral of Bishop Mondal will be held at the Narinda Cemetery on Sunday 30 June at 13.30 hrs in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh.

Please click here: CCA General Secretary's Condolence Message