Dong Sung Kim, former programme executive of WCC passes away

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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25 March 2018

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The Rev. Dr. Dong Sung Kim, South Korean theologian and former WCC staff member passed away today early morning at the Asan hospital in Seoul, South Korea. He was diagnosed with cancer about two years ago, and since then Kim has been undergoing treatment.

The funeral will take place on Tuesday 27 March in Seoul.

Dong Sung Kim served the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva as a programme executive from 2010, until he returned to his home country Korea in 2017 due to his illness.

An ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church in Korea (PCK), Dr. Kim studied Theology (M.Div.) and Church History (Th.M.) at the Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary (PUTS) in Seoul. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh.

Before being appointed in WCC, he worked as a secretary for Ecumenical Relations and Planning at the PCK General Assembly Office, an Assistant Pastor of the Saemunahn Presbyterian Church, and a lecturer at the PUTS.

While conveying condolences on behalf of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) to the bereaved family and friends of Dong Sung Kim, the General Secretary of CCA Dr. Mathews George Chunakara said that “the demise of Dong Sung Kim is a great loss for the ecumenical movement; he would have contributed much more to the global and Asian ecumenical movement. However, once again it is proved that God’s plans were different", and “the Lord determines our steps”.

Mathews George Chunakara visited Dong Sung Kim, his former colleague in WCC, two weeks ago at the Asan Hospital in Seoul, where Kim had been undergoing treatment and battling cancer.

Dong Sung Kim is survived by his wife Kahee Kim and two daughters - Yein Kim and Yewon Kim.