E-letter October 2011

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 November 2011
christian conference of Asia, Asia christianity

Dear Ecumenical Friends and Colleagues -

The highlights of the month of October are on the strengthening the wider ecumenical relationship of CCA with other ecumenical organizations. The WCC Assembly Planning Committee (APC) meeting was held in Busan, South Korea on September 26 to October 2, 2011, in Busan International Convention Center, the venue where the WCC Assembly in 2013 will be held. As a member of APC, I participated in this meeting. It was a great opportunity to understand the Korean context and to engage with the leaders of Korean churches and the local organizing committee. The APC provides ample space in the planning of the assembly for the sharing of the Korean cultural and spiritual richness and the experiences of Korean churches in their life and ministry. As this assembly will be held in Asian soil, the importance of the input from Asian contextual theological reflections related to the theme “God, lead us to peace and justice” are highly expected.

The second meeting of the Global Christian Forum (GCF) was held in Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia on October 4-7, 2011, under the theme: “Together in Jesus Christ: Empowered by the Holy Spirit.” The meeting was attended by 287 participants with 18 young adults, coming from 65 countries. The highlights of the meeting included regular prayer and worship which reflected a deep hunger for unity in Christ in the midst of a fragmented world and the division among Christian churches. The four days of sharing, discussions, trust building between Christian groups that rarely meet together but as wide and varied as the global Christian faith itself - African Instituted, Anglican, Charismatic, Evangelical, Orthodox, Pentecostal, Protestant, Roman Catholic and contemplative communities – in an open space, was experienced as a gift of God. In this gathering, CCA was represented by the General Secretary. On the request of the GCF Secretary, Mr. Huibert van Beek, Dr. Liza Lamis, CCA Communications Consultant, supported the communications work of the gcf meeting.

One of the poignant moments of the four days experience was a panel of churches that have experienced healing and reconciliation in Christ. The GCF renewed its commitment as reflected in its final statement: “We know that God’s Spirit draws the body of Christ into unity for the sake of God’s mission in the world. So we commit ourselves to nurture the Global Christian Forum, as the Spirit leads, as witness to God’s saving and transforming love.”

It was encouraged that similar forums take place in the local, national and regional levels. In the final session the Indonesian churches, inspired by their experiences together at the GCF launched the Indonesian Christian Forum which consisted of the Evangelical, Pentecostal, Protestant and Roman Catholic churches as well as the existing ecumenical organization of Indonesian Churches, namely the Communion of Churches in Indonesia. There are some countries in Asia that are having a similar forum such as Malaysia and India.

At the Asia-wide level in 1995 the Asian Movement for Christian Unity (AMCU) was initiated by the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) and the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC). Gradually the Evangelicals and Pentecostals have been invited to participate in the various AMCU programs.

CCA was invited to participate in the Ecumenical Advocacy Coordination meeting which was held in New York, USA, on October 3-4, 2011. Rev. Dr. Hermen Shastri, General Secretary of Malaysia Council of Churches and a member of CCA Executive Committee represented CCA in this important meeting. It was organized jointly by the Ecumenical UN Office in New York and ACT Alliance with the purpose to map the advocacy priorities of the participating organizations; explore different possible ways of coordination and cooperation around specific issues and countries by analyzing best practices; and agree on a strategic division of labors and ways of working together at the national, regional and global levels in the coming year(s) around a limited number of countries and/or issues.

I am writing this letter on my way to Malta to attend the meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWC) of the WCC and the Pontifical Council of Christian Unity of the Roman Catholic Church which will be held on November 1-5, 2011. This meeting will be the last of a series which were held since the WCC Porto Allegre Assembly in 2007. It will finalize the documents to be presented to the assembly of each parent bodies - WCC and the RCC - which includes the documents on “Reception” and “The Roots of Ecumenical Spirituality” as well as two papers responding to the issues of “Migrant Workers” and “Youth”.

On my way to Malta, I spent a few days in Europe to visit two of the CCA ecumenical partners, namely: ICCO and Kerk in Actie in Utrecht, the Netherlands and Brot fur Die Welt in Stuttgart, Germany. It was a great opportunity to know each other better, especially to update the changes that have been taking place in each organization, and to renew the commitment for collaboration in addressing common concerns in Asia today.

The various ecumenical activities and collaborations as shared above indicated the new emerging landscape of ecumenical collaboration. The importance of providing space for all was crucial for Christians to be able to respond to the call of the Spirit for the manifestation of unity of the body of Christ. The dramatic challenges that we are facing in the changing world of today requires us to review the way we used to define our ecumenical work. The wall of prejudice, even sometimes hostility within the Christian family are challenged tremendously. It is only the grace of God that enables the churches to come together in humility to repent and reconcile to each other for the common call to proclaim the Gospel.

We continue to remember the many people in Asia who are suffering due to the impact of natural disasters, communal conflicts and wars. We especially pray for the people of Thailand who suffer from prolonged floods that caused many deaths and damages in the country. Let us continue to pray for the Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT) as they participate in addressing the disaster. We are grateful for the solidarity that has been expressed by some churches in Asia to assist CCT in this ministry. Our prayers are also for the people of WEST Papua in this challenging time as many people fall victims to violent actions. The Rev. Retno Ngapon, one of the CCA presidents, repesented CCA to the 56th anniversary of the Indonesian Christian Church In Tanah Papua (GKI in Tanah Papua) on October 26, 2011, and the general assembly of this church on October 26 – November 3, 2011. Let us uphold the church in TANAH Papua in our prayers so that they be strengthened by the Holy Spirit in their prophetic ministry leading to peace and justice for all.

Henriette Hutabarat Lebang
General Secretary