CCA expresses grief on loss of thousands of lives in Turkey-Syria earthquake

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.

22 February 2023

The Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) expresses grief and mourns the loss of thousands of lives in the earthquake that ravaged Turkey and Syria on Monday, 6 February 2023. 

Latest reports indicate that at least 15,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands have been injured in the devastation. 

The CCA General Secretary Dr Mathews George Chunakara expressed profound grief at the death and destruction caused by the earthquake and said, “We hold in our prayers the victims and their families as well as the communities in these affected areas that continue to work tirelessly in hazardous conditions to rescue survivors.”

“The CCA expresses solidarity with the people of Turkey and Syria in this tragic situation. We pray for God’s comforting presence among the affected people at this time of loss, destruction, and deep uncertainty. We also commit those engaged in rescue operations and provision of aid and assistance,” said the CCA General Secretary.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck 23 kilometres east of Nurdagi, in Turkey’s Gaziantep Province in the early morning hours, a time when most people were asleep in their homes. The quake is one of the strongest to hit the region in more than 100 years. At least a hundred aftershocks ranging up to 7.5 on the Richter scale have been felt across the region since the quake initially struck.

Thousands of buildings have collapsed in both countries. Although several countries have already sent special teams to aid in rescue efforts, freezing weather conditions are endangering survivors and complicating rescue efforts. 

Most worrying is the precarious situation in north-western Syria where over four million vulnerable people affected by the decade-long conflict and civil war were already relying on humanitarian assistance. Aid workers in Syria are reporting that hospitals are overloaded and resources are stretched thin.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the CCA’s regional counterpart the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) have appealed for the lifting of sanctions against Syria to “allow access to all materials, so sanctions may not turn into a crime against humanity”. 

Churches in the region, such as the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, have already begun contributing to the emergency response through the provision of food kits, mattresses, blankets, and other relief materials. The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia and the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul have contributed to information sharing and are following up on the situation of their congregations in the affected areas. 

The CCA General Secretary urged Asian churches to pray for the earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria and to generously contribute financial support to emergency relief assistance undertaken by the churches in the region.