CCA joins condemnation of the burning of the Qur’an to mark 9/11

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.

10 September 2010
christian conference of Asia, Asia christianity

As the world prepares to remember the thousands who died in New York on 11th of September 2001, CCA joins the voices of condemnation from leaders of Christian churches and other religious faiths against plans by members of the Dove World Outreach Center to burn the Quran on the anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks.

We believe as Christians that burning the Qur’an does not reflect the mind of Christ.

Youth representatives from the Council of Churches in Malaysia handed a memorandum of protest to the officials of the United States Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. The Rev. Sivin Kit, Bangsar Lutheran Church Pastor and Ms Chrisanne Chin, Youth Moderator of the CCM voiced their protest before Jeremy Nathan, US Embassy Deputy Political Counselor. They expressed their protest in the Memorandum and reiterated that the act of burning the Quran do not represent the sentiments of Christians in Malaysia and that they consider the burning of the holy scriptures of any faith as disrespectful, provocative, insulting, harmful and is contrary to the fundamental Christian belief to love our neighbors as ourselves and to be peacemakers. They also expressed their conviction “that any proposed act of banning or burning another faith’s holy text is tantamount to a form of hate crime that must be dealt with utmost severity”.

The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA joined leaders of other faiths in condemning the proposed plans of the Dove World Outreach Center to stage the burning of the Quran to mark 9/11 in the US. In a public Statement, issued on 2nd September, they affirmed -

“As religious leaders in this great country, we have come together in our nation’s capital to denounce categorically the derision, misinformation and outright bigotry being directed against America’s Muslim community. We bear a sacred responsibility to honor America’s varied faith traditions and to promote a culture of mutual respect and the assurance of religious freedom for all.”

“The threatened burning of copies of the Holy Qur’an this Saturday is a particularly egregious offense that demands the strongest possible condemnation by all who value civility in public life and seek to honor the sacred memory of those who lost their lives on September 11. As religious leaders, we are appalled by such disrespect for a sacred text that for centuries has shaped many of the great cultures of our world, and that continues to give spiritual comfort to more than a billion Muslims today.”

Asia is home to more than 60%, the world’s largest Muslim population, with 670 million living in countries with CCA member churches and Councils. Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh have the largest Muslim population in the world. And for centuries, Muslims were living in peace and shared values of community, tolerance and hospitality with Christians and people of other faiths.

The Christian Conference of Asia calls the world religious communities to observe September 11, 2010 with prayers calling for peace, reconciliation and healing in Asia and the rest of the world. We also call on all our member churches and Councils to continue sharing and learning from adherents of Islam and other faiths their various ways of witnessing to peace and justice in their particular religious traditions.

CCA will also join the World Council of Churches and Christians worldwide in celebration of the International Day of Prayer for Peace on 21st September calling people to prayer, mediation and other forms of spiritual observance.

CCA is an Asian regional ecumenical organization with member churches, Councils and inter-church bodies in Aoteroa/New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Hong Kong SAR China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Laos, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Timor Leste.

Yours faithfully,

Henriette Hutabarat-Lebang
General Secretary

Rev. Rex R.B. Reyes
For the Presidium