E-Letter: Pentecost Greetings

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)
20 May 2013
christian conference of Asia, Asia christianity

Pentecost 19 May 2013 “It is the spirit that gives life...”

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

Pentecost greetings to you. May the Spirit of God continue to empower us in our journey together to manifest the unity of the body of Christ so that we the churches can be a credible instrument of God in promoting life, peace and justice.

It was an inspiring experience to be part of the ‘Celebration of Unity’ organized jointly by major national Christian denominations and streams in Indonesia, held at the Main Stadium “Gelora Bung Karno” in Jakarta on May 18, 2013. For many, this event is a witness to the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. It was attended by about 45,000 Christians from local churches in Jakarta, initiated by the Indonesian Christian Forum, which consists of Communion of Churches in Indonesia, Catholic Bishops’ Conferences, Fellowship of Evangelicals in Indonesia, Fellowship of Pentecostal Churches in Indonesia, Fellowship of Baptist Indonesia, Salvation Army, Adventist, and the Orthodox Church in Indonesia.

The ‘Celebration of Unity’ gave churches which often live in isolation and often have prejudices against each other, to come together and renew their commitment to be united in witnessing Christ in their ministries to promote peace and justice in the life of the nation. This was symbolized by the lighting of a huge torch by the leaders of the different streams of the churches in Indonesia, hoping that as the tongues of fire inspired and enabled the early church on the day of the Pentecost in Jerusalem to understand and witness the message of the Gospel, so too in their plurality may they be united in proclaiming the language of love to all. We believe that “It is the spirit that gives life...” (John 6:63)

Moreover, this event is a special opportunity for the churches in Indonesia to welcome the Assembly of the World Council of Churches which is to be held in Asia, at Busan in Korea from October 30–November 8, 2013. It was a moving experience to see that in the parade of the representatives of each member of the Indonesian Christian Forum, the representatives of churches in Korea were also participating. This grand event, which was supported by Indonesia Reachout Foundation, was attended by the General Secretaries or representatives of the World Council of Churches, Global Christian Forum, United Bible Society, Christian Conference of Asia, Council of Churches of Malaysia, National Council of Churches in India, National Council of Churches in Bangladesh, Uniting Church of Australia, and the Host Committee of the WCC Assembly from Korea. In addition, the participants of Asia Ecumenical Course 2013 coming from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Timor Leste, Aotearoa New Zealand and Indonesia, were also part of this celebration.

We recognize that in many parts of Asia, people are crying, similar to the crying of people during the time of prophet Ezekiel: "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely." (cf. Ezekiel 37:11) We were continuously disturbed by the many recent incidents that took the lives of many innocent people and the increase in environmental disasters. The collapse of a building housing a garment factory in Bangladesh killing more than 1000 employees, followed closely by another building collapse in Cambodia, and the tragic incident of caving in of a mine in Papua, Indonesia, has brought to the world’s attention, the fact that disasters could be the result of human negligence and an indifferent attitude to the responsibility to protect life. The escalating communal conflicts in many places in Asia and the world are distressing as they go against the spirit of life.

Cyclone Mahassen, that lashed the coasts of Bangladesh and Myanmar recently, further indicated the growing fragility of our planet. A majority of the countries in Asia region like Mynamar, Bangladesh, Philippines, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, India, Australia, Japan and Thailand are exposed to the fury storms and floods more frequently and with greater intensity. This change in climate is largely because of the increase in the Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. The recent report of CO2 breaching the 400 ppm (parts per million) level, is an indicator of what the world is up against. Economic policies ignore services that promote sustainability of resources, education, health, housing, infrastructure and other welfare services leaving millions of people uneducated, unemployed, undernourished and in dire poverty. These are some of the realities of our world today that indicate the overwhelming powers of death which have caused suffering to many.

God listened to the cries of the suffering people during the time of Prophet Ezekiel. In such a life threatening situation, God who cares for all His creation, listens, interferes, conquering the power of death that destroys life. He saves and restores life, as He promises: "I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath on you and you shall live..." (Ez. 37:4-6). Prophet Ezekiel was asked to prophecy, to tell the good news to the people. This is the message of hope that the churches ought to proclaim, that “It is the spirit that gives life...” (John 6:63) We need the breath of life, of wisdom, of justice and peace to flow through our bodies and in the ministries of the church as the body of Christ, to cleanse, invigorate, inspire and transform.

We shall continue to pray together:

Come, Holy Spirit, heal and reconcile your people.

Come, Holy Spirit, renew your creation.

Come, Holy Spirit, empower us to be your co-workers,

So that life, peace with justice will be present in our world today.

With best wishes

Henriette Hutabarat Lebang

General Secretary