CCA General Secretary attends Mekong Mission Forum

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.

16 April 2013
christian conference of Asia, Asia christianity

Mekong Mission Forum Phnom Penh, Cambodia 4-7 April 2013

The General Secretary of CCA, Rev. Dr. Henriette Hutabarat Lebang, attended the Mekong Mission Forum (MMF) held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 4-7 April 2013. She appreciated and honored the invitation received from Rev. Dr. Traugott Farnbacher, President of Mekong Mission Forum (MMF), who is the Secretary for Papua New Guinea, Pacific and East Asia Centre for “Mission OneWorld” of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria.

Rev. H. Lebang was invited to bring greetings on behalf of CCA.  She highlighted the beginnings of mission work in Indo-China countries by the ecumenical family, especially through Asia Christian Service (ACS) in 1973, when Mr. Frans Tumiwa was appointed by CCA as the ACS Field Director in Laos. Later his work was extended to Vietnam in 1975 and to Cambodia in 1977 on behalf of the CCA-WCC Joint Program, particularly on ‘humanitarian assistance to refugees’. It was a moving moment for her to share this historical note as she had just received the news about the passing away of Mr. Frans Tumiwa in Bogor, Indonesia on April 4, when she just arrived in Phnom Penh.

She hailed this meeting as “an inspiring learning opportunity to know the Lutheran Churches and the work of various mission agencies with Lutheran background in Mekong area through the report of the participants”. This meeting she said “is a great chance to know and build meaningful relationships with various churches, institutions and co-workers in Christ working specifically for Mekong region.”

She believed that one of the common challenges today is to bring together Church leaders of various denominations to meet and interact regularly, that is crucial in developing a sense of oneness and  interconnectedness among church leaders. This will hopefully pave the way to unity in mission of the churches in each country in Mekong region and contribute greatly in responding to the emerging issues in the region.

Dr. W. Chang, Area Secretary for Asia, Middle East and Pacific, Department for Mission and Development, Lutheran World Federation (DMD-LWF) was also present.

The MMF formed in 2002, comprises Lutheran churches in Mekong region (Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand) and mission agencies with Lutheran background working in this region. It meets  regularly to facilitate cooperation.  CCA has been invited for a few meetings in the past.