CCA names new general secretary and officers

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).

First Preference:
Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF)
Second Preference:
Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia and Advocacy (PD)
13 April 2005
christian conference of Asia, Asia christianity

The Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) has elected Dr Prawate Khid-arn as its new general secretary.

Prawate Khid-arn

The general committee of the CCA, which met on 31 March in Chiang Mai, Thailand elected him for a term of five years.

He will assume office on 1 June this year.

Prawate Khid-arn, who hails from Chiang Mai, is at present the associate general secretary for finance of the CCA.

The CCA represents about 55 million Christians belonging to nearly 100 Protestant and Orthodox churches in 19 Asian countries, including Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Among the main objectives of the CCA is to strive for visible unity of the Asian churches.

Born in Chiang Rai, Thailand in 1952, Prawate studied Theology and Philosophy at Payap University and Community Development at Thammasat University. He earned a PhD in Community Development from the University of the Philippines in 1992.

He taught at the Payap University from 1984 to 1989, before joining the CCA as executive secretary for Development and Service. Later, he became joint executive secretary for Justice, International Affairs, Development and Service Program Area.

Prawate, a member of the Church of Christ in Thailand has attended several international conferences on poverty, community organisation and ecology.

He has a wife, Somsri, and two children, who live in Bangkok.

The CCA general assembly, which followed the general committee, elected Ms Manju Baroi (Bangladesh), Rev Dr Khamphone Kounthapanya (Laos), Ms Lu Yuen-Wen (Taiwan) and Rev Francisco Maria De Vasconselos (Timor-Leste) as the new presidents of the CCA.

The 31 March to 6 April general assembly also elected Bishop Thomas Soo (Hong Kong) as the new honorary treasurer.

A general committee, comprising 19 members from each country plus the four presidents, honorary treasurer and the general secretary has been formed by the assembly, which has also elected members for the three different Program Areas of the CCA.