CCA General Assembly participants overjoyed with opportunities and spiritual experiences in worshipping at local congregations on Asia Sunday

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.

01 October 2023

Kottayam, India: Participants of the CCA General Assembly joined over 70 local congregations in and around Kottayam on Sunday 1 October for a morning liturgical worship and fellowship with members of local congregations belonging to various denominations and confessional families.

The local congregations comprised the Church of South India, the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, and the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, who welcomed and graciously hosted the international participants of the General Assembly at their respective congregations or homes of parishioners.

The Asia Sunday-2023 was observed on 1 October across Asia with a focus on the CCA Assembly theme, ‘God, Renew Us in Your Spirit, and Restore the Creation’, and the participants who visited the parishes also could take the message of the CCA Assembly to the local congregations.

Several participants described one of the most beautiful aspects of the 15th General Assembly as the opportunities they had to visit local congregations and become part of local Christians’ spiritual life through their liturgical worship and the chances to forge global and local connections.

“It was heartening to be received warmly at local congregations and experience the spiritual life of the descendants of an ancient historical Christian community in Kerala with a common tradition and heritage followed from the first century onwards, although they now belong to different Christian denominations,” commented a delegate from Iran.

“The opportunities for developing friendship and fellowship among the participants and with the local congregations have been abundant. The connections and the threads that weave our global ecumenical family together have been marvellous,” opined members of the delegation from Australia.

Members of one of the largest delegations representing various Korean churches belonging to Protestant traditions were overjoyed in commenting about their experiences in participating in Sunday worship services at local churches, and they expressed their happiness in worshipping with different local congregations and learning more about the rich liturgical traditions of ancient Christian churches in Kerala.

Participants attended worship services in local congregations conducted according to three main liturgical traditions of four member churches in CCA fellowship from Kerala: Orthodox (Malankara Orthodox Syrian, and Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox); Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian; and the Protestant (Church of South India Madhya Kerala and East Kerala Dioceses). 

While CCA’s 15th General Assembly is being held in Kottayam, India, member churches across Asia observed Asia Sunday which fell on 1 October this year.

For more photos (photo gallery) please click here: Asia Sunday and Church Visit, 1 October 2023