DOV focus on Asia 2005 launched

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

The World Council of Churches' (WCC) Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) Asia Focus 2005 was formally launched during the 12th General Assembly of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) held in Chiang Mai, Thailand from 31 March to 6 April 2005.

"Asia will be the window for the rest of the world through which the eyes of the world will see how overcoming violence is being done by the churches in Asia," said the WCC General Secretary Dr Sam Kobia at the formal launch of the DOV Asia Focus 2005 on the same theme as of the general assembly, "Building communities of peace for all."

Asia will be in the limelight this year and the WCC will highlight the Asian stories to the world about how violence is being overcome in this region. While Asian churches are focused on overcoming violence, the world will focus on Asia, he told a gathering of church leaders and representatives.

The Rev Rothnangllliani Chhangte, a "living letter" from the DOV committee in the USA read a letter addressed to the churches in Asia. The letter expressed the view that Asia, which has the potential to become economically prosperous in the near future, is also likely to see increasing disparities of health and wealth.

"These disparities represent forms of injustice that are themselves forms of violence and that may in turn lead to political violence, greater oppression, or both," it cautioned.

The letter concluded by saying that, "For the peace we seek is life in Christ, a dynamic life of well-being, reconciliation, and healing even in the face of harsh and difficult circumstances."

Speaking on the occasion, Rev Hansulrich Gerber, WCC's DOV coordinator said that the DOV called churches, ecumenical organisation and all people of goodwill to work together at local, regional, and global level with communities, secular movements, and people of all living faiths for peace, justice and reconciliation.

The DOV called on churches to repent for their complicity in violence, and to engage in theological reflections to overcome the spirit, logic and practice of violence, he told the assembly participants.

"Addressing holistically the wide varieties of violence, both direct and structural, in homes, communities and international arenas, and learning from the local and regional analysis of violence and ways to overcome violence," are some of the goals of the DOV, according to Gerber.

He said that an estimated 1.6 million people lost their lives to violence in 2000.

Ms Ralphine Razak Manantenasoa from Madagascar shared a message of peace with the assembly. The CCA General Secretary Dr Ahn Jae Woong assured the assembly of the CCA's commitment in building communities of peace for all for the next five years.

As a symbolic gesture, the WCC gave the CCA a "survival kit" containing mainly DOV-related documents and publications, which was received by the DOV Focus on Asia coordinator Hope Antone.