Dr. Mathews George Chunakara Elected General Secretary of CCA

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.

01 February 2015

Dr. Mathews George Chunakara, a lay member of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church in India has been elected unanimously as the new General Secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) for a term of five years by the General Committee of the CCA which is now meeting  at the Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand from 10-12 February 2015.

The Search Committee, formed for the selection of a new General Secretary of CCA, in its year- long work undertook a thorough search process. The seven member committee reviewed, shortlisted and interviewed candidates from among the 14 candidates who applied or were nominated to the position by member churches and councils. The Search Committee at the final phase interviewed four candidates and proposed the name of Dr. Mathews George Chunakara which was unanimously received and voted by the General Committee. The unanimous election of a General Secretary was the first in CCA's 58 years of history.

Mathews George Chunakara is the first Indian citizen to be elected to this position. He will succeed Rev. Dr. Henriette Hutabarat Lebang from Indonesia, who was elected General Secretary in 2010.

The Moderator of the Search Committee Rev. Prince Devanandan, Methodist Church in New Zealand commends on behalf of the Search Committee Dr. Mathews George Chunakara for “prayers and support of the Member Churches and Councils as he is entrusted with the task of leading and strengthening the Asian Ecumenical Movement and its mission in Asia and wherever God calls us to serve”.  “Let our light shine before people that they may see our good works and glorify God. “ (Matt 5:16) 

Dr. Mathews George Chunakara comes with rich ecumenical experiences in Asia and at the global level. He held various positions in his own country in India, Asia region and at the global level during the past thirty years. He was Director of the Commission of Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, Switzerland from 2009 to 2014. Prior to that, he served as Asia Secretary of the WCC (2000- 2009) and Executive Secretary for International Affairs of the CCA in Hong Kong (1993- 2000).

Mathews George has made significant contributions to the ecumenical formation and leadership development in Asia, peace and reconciliation, advocacy on human rights, justice and development, religious freedom, communal harmony and developing and nurturing relations with churches in  communist countries and governments in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Peoples Republic of China and North Korea through his work in CCA and WCC. He facilitated the founding of three National Councils of Churches in Asia - Cambodia, Nepal and Bhutan.

He has authored and edited more than fifteen books in English and Malayalam. His latest books include Called to be Prophetic in the Oikumene; Ecumenism in Asia: Prospects and Challenges; and Living Together in the Household of God :  Challenges to Pilgrimage of Peace with Justice in Asia. 

The CCA is the largest ecumenical organization in Asia and the first Regional Ecumenical Organization founded in the world in 1957. CCA has a membership of 101 churches and 17 National Councils of Churches covering a vast geographical region from the West Asia, Iran to the East Asia in Japan, and from the North in Nepal to the Australasia, in New Zealand.

Photo: Dr. Mathews George Chunakara and members of the CCA General Committee with the President of Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand