CCA mourns the passing away of former General Secretary Prof. Dr. U Kyaw Than

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).

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04 May 2017

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Prof. Dr. U Kyaw Than, former General Secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) passed away in Bangkok, Thailand on 30 April 2017.

Kyaw Than was widely recognised as a stalwart of the Asian ecumenical movement, who represented his country and church for more than half a century at various Asian and global ecumenical bodies and international gatherings around the world.

While expressing heartfelt condolences to the relatives and friends of U Kyaw Than, on behalf of the CCA and the Asian ecumenical family at large, General Secretary of the CCA Dr. Mathews George Chunakara said, “Prof. Kyaw Than was deeply respected, admired and loved by those who knew him. He lived and witnessed Christ as an unassuming lay disciple, and influenced generations of young Asian Christians and enabled them to shape their ecumenical values over the decades.”

The CCA General Secretary also added that, “the Christian Conference of Asia is deeply indebted to Prof. U Kyaw Than for building the CCA from its very inception in 1957 through his tireless efforts. His contributions to the ecumenical movement at various levels have been multifaceted, and his ecumenical vision attracted a very diverse group of the younger generation of people from various churches in Asia during his work as a CCA staff member and later as the General Secretary.”

“U Kyaw Than will be remembered for his unique contributions to the ecumenical movement in Asia. He was a true ecumenical pilgrim, who completed the race and kept the faith in the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace,” stated Dr. Mathews George Chunakara.

Born in Pakokku, Myanmar (Burma) in December 1923, Kyaw Than’s ecumenical involvement began through his association with the Student Christian Movement in his country. In 1950, he was appointed the Associate General Secretary of the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) in Geneva, a position he continued until 1956. U Kyaw Than was invited as the Joint East Asia Secretary of the International Missionary Council (IMC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 1956. In that capacity, he was assigned to organise the Asian Church Leaders Conference held in Parapat, Indonesia in 1957 under the theme, “Our Common Evangelistic Tasks in Asia”, which led to the formation of the CCA , earlier known as the East Asia Christian Conference (EACC). 

He was appointed Associate General Secretary of the EACC in 1959 at the Kuala Lumpur Assembly, and in 1968, at the Bangkok Assembly, he succeeded D.T. Niles as General Secretary of the CCA, a post he held until 1973.

At the Fifth Assembly of the WCC in Nairobi in 1975, he was elected to the Central Committee of the WCC and subsequently, to the Executive Committee of the WCC.

He returned to Myanmar in 1978 and began teaching at the Theological Schools on Seminary Hills in Insein until 1984. He served as the Director of the Training Institute for Christian Participation in National Development (TICPINO) by the Myanmar Council of Churches with a special responsibility for the development of the Chin ethnic minority in the North Western border region of the country.

Before joining the faculty at the College of Religious Studies, Mahidol University, Bangkok, in 1984, U Kyaw Than served as  a professor at the Vancouver School of Theology, British Columbia, Canada, and at the Yale University, U.S.A. He taught History, Christianity and Ecumenism for more than forty years at various universities in North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia. He became a William Paton Fellow at the Selly Oak Colleges in Birmingham, U.K.

He was an ardent promoter of Christian-Buddhist relations and inter-religious dialogue.

It is a widely recognised fact that Kyaw Than was one among a very few Christians in the Southeast Asia region to have served the ecumenical movement for decades. In 1981, he was conferred a Doctor of Divinity degree in Church History by the senate of the South East Asia Graduate School of Theology (SEAGST).

His funeral will take place in Bangkok, Thailand on Tuesday, 9 May 2017 and the funeral service will begin at 11.00 a.m. at the Rangsit Methodist Church, Bangkok.