CCA Calls for Collaborative Ecumenical Partnership in Programs and Activities

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 December 2015

cca

PROGRAM COMMITTEE MEETING
1-3 December 2015
Chiang Mai, Thailand

 

CCA Calls for Collaborative Ecumenical Partnership in Programs and Activities

“Our ecumenical commitment and calling warrant us to initiate a more systematic approach in making Christian Conference of Asia’s (CCA) witness more effectively in partnership with other ecumenical organizations and platforms in Asia,” stated CCA General Secretary Dr. Mathews George Chunakara at the first meeting of the newly constituted program committee of CCA.

The General Secretary in his report to the program committee on ‘CCA in an Emerging Asian Context: New Mandates and Priorities for Programs’ shared a proposal of CCA to initiate a process of ‘Collaborative Ecumenical Partnership in Programs and Activities’ (CEPPA).

The program committee is being held at the CCA headquarters in Chiang Mai, Thailand from 1 to 3 December 2015.

“When implemented, the partnership initiative through CEPPA will be able to reach the goal of visible and result-oriented partnerships in implementations of programs with other members in the ecumenical family in Asia and from other parts of the world. This will make a difference in the quality of our partnership within the ecumenical family. CCA, as a regional ecumenical organization in Asia with a vast constituency, starting from Iran in West Asia to Japan in East Asia and Nepal in the North to New Zealand in the South, is in a unique position to enter into quality partnership arrangements for ecumenical programs with other ecumenical bodies in a creative way”.

“Financial constraints or sharing program costs should not be the criteria for developing this partnership and collaboration within Asian ecumenical family, but it is part of CCA’s commitment to embrace and cooperate with all ecumenical actors and players within the Asian ecumenical family,” said Dr. Mathews George Chunakara.

The General Secretary of CCA also shared disappointment that CCA being the ecumenical instrument mandated with responsibilities for ensuring the coherence and coordination of the ecumenical movement in Asia, is often helpless to perform its role today due to a trend of “Archipelago Ecumenism”. He added that “instead of nurturing an integrated approach in ensuring the coherence and unity of the one ecumenical movement, we are experiencing a compartmentalization of the ecumenical movement due to lack of sensitivities and respect to ecumenical ethos by certain ecumenical bodies trying to compete in Asia in the name of ecumenism. As a result of this trend, the unity of the ecumenical movement in Asia is facing divisions and it is being converted as an “archipelago of ecumenism”.

The program committee will finalize a five year strategic plan and specific activities as per the new program structure adopted by the CCA executive committee in its last meeting.