CCA decides Asia Mission Conference theme, “Journeying Together: Prophetic Witness to the Truth and Light, in Asia”

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).

No preference updated.

03 November 2016

The theme of the Asia Mission Conference – 2017 of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) will be “Journeying Together: Prophetic Witness to the Truth and Light, in Asia”.

A meeting of the CCA Officers last week decided to adopt the proposal of the Experts Group specially assigned to develop the theme and sub-themes of the AMC.

As a follow-up of the CCA Executive Committee’s proposal, the Experts Group worked out details on the theme developed from the initial reflections by the Executive Committee in its meeting held in Medan, Indonesia in July 2016 based on the Biblical texts, “I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37); and “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (John 8:12).

The Experts Group has also developed four sub-themes and conceptual clarity on the theme in its relation to the mission and witness of the Church in Asia: Mission as Prophetic Accompaniment (Ref. Isaiah 62: 1-12, Matthew 25: 35-40, Micah 6: 8); Mission as Affirming the Servanthood (Ref. Matthew 20: 28, Luke 22: 27); Mission as Re-discovering the Kingdom Values (Ref. Romans 12: 2, Ephesians 2: 22, Hebrews 13: 5, Luke 17: 1-21, 2 Timothy 2: 22); and Mission as Embodying the Spirituality of the Cross. (Ref. Matthew 16: 24, Luke 6: 35)

Yangon, Myanmar as the Venue of two historic events of the CCA

Yangon, the main city where the headquarters of most CCA member churches in the country and the Myanmar Council of Churches are located, will be the venue of the AMC and CCA’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

While explaining the rationale of prioritizing Yangon as the venue, Dr. Mathews George Chunakara, General Secretary of CCA said, “it is very significant that the AMC and the 60th anniversary of the CCA will be hosted by churches in a country like Myanmar, which has remained a closed door society for at least half a century, since 1962. Churches in Burma, today’s Myanmar, had played an important role in the founding of CCA in 1957. There were even discussions at the Parapat meeting in 1957 about the possibility of setting up the headquarters of EACC in Rangoon, the then capital of Burma, but the subsequent political changes and the self-isolation of the country changed the situation, including the freedom of churches.”

“Churches in Myanmar, that underwent traumatic experiences in the closed door situations, demonstrated their resilience and were active ecumenically and passionate in mission and evangelism even during the difficult years. However, today they are engaged more actively in ecclesial and ecumenical mission and witness. CCA member churches and mission partners of Asian churches will be happy to reflect on Asian churches’ mission and witness in such a context in Myanmar,” said the CCA General Secretary.

Dr. Mathews George Chunakara further added, “that all major mission agencies and churches from different parts of the world that were active once in different Asian countries at different times in history will be invited to attend the Asia Mission Conference and the commemorative celebrations of CCA’s Diamond Jubilee. The forerunner of CCA, the East Asia Christian Conference (EACC) was founded at the Asian church leaders’ Conference on the theme ‘The Common Evangelistic Task of Churches in Asia’ which was jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the International Missionary Council (IMC)”.

About 400 participants will be expected to attend the AMC for five days, including a full day’s celebration to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the CCA on Sunday, 15 October 2017.

Representatives of member churches and councils, international mission organizations, regional and international ecumenical organizations, missiologists, theologians from different parts of the world, as well as past and present ecclesiastical and ecumenical leaders, inter-religious leaders, along with representatives of Myanmar churches will attend both the historic events.

The day-long commemorative event of CCA’s Diamond Jubilee will include visits to congregations and worshipping with local communities on Sunday, 15 October, a thanksgiving service, a public meeting in the afternoon with the participation of thousands of people from local churches of various denominations in Myanmar, as well as cultural presentations.

More details about the upcoming AMC and Diamond Jubilee celebrations will be updated on the CCA website periodically.