Eco-Justice ethics essential for sustainable development, says CCA consultation

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.

02 December 2016

gpParticipants of the Eco-Justice consultation in Chiang Mai, Thailand. 

“To uplift the suffering people in Asia, a just and peaceful world has to be created, so Christians in Asia have to work for sustainable development,” Tomoko Arakawa, Director of the Asian Rural Institute (ARI) in Japan said in a thematic address on Eco-Justice and Transformational Development at an international consultation organised by the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA).

“Eco-Justice is not merely concerned with ecology or the environment alone, it is, in fact, a crucial factor interlinked to issues of hunger, poverty, sustainability of natural resources, production of energy and its appropriate use, economic development, equitable distributions of wealth, debt relief, fair trade and environmental safety,” said Tomoko Arakawa.

Organised and facilitated by the CCA, in collaboration with the Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT) and the Korean Christian Forum on Life-Giving Agriculture (KLGAF), on the theme, ‘Eco-Justice: Towards Sustainable Development and Food Security in Asia’ about 60 participants, theologians, church workers, Eco-Justice advocates and representatives of churches and ecumenical organisations from different Asian countries attended the consultation, held in Chiang Mai from 29 November to 2 December 2016.

“Christian duties are parallel to sustainable development. God wants us to be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and nurture and nourish it,” Rev. Rein Justin Gultom from the Community Development Bureau in HKBP, Indonesia said in thematic presentation on Eco-Justice.

Dr. Abram J. Bicksler, Director of the ECHO Asia impact Center said, “God is calling the Church to be the redemptive factor in sustaining his creation; this is a call to all developing countries in Asia to prioritise food security over trade.”

While speaking about Life-Giving Agriculture (LGA), Rev. Han Kyeong Ho, president of the Korean Christian Life-Giving Agriculture Forum (KCLGAF) said, “LGA is a movement of the people and a way of life that relates to livelihoods. The land, forest and water are gifts of God to all on earth. LGA is a living philosophy based on theology of life. It is a life enhancing process grounded in faith and nurtured in a culture of sharing, caring and loving. LGA is diverse yet holistic, participatory, non-exploitative and builds equity (gender), respect, dignity and justice.”

Stressing upon the need for healthy rural communities and healthy rural churches, Dr. Rev. Chung Ho Jin, former president and the honorary president of the international NGO Life World spoke about the process and practice of Life-Giving Agriculture, detailing six methods that exclude hazardous synthetic chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, mechanical tilling, plastic covers and GMO seeds. 

Sharing their experiences and perspectives on Eco-Justice, participants observed that Asia is rapidly developing, yet, almost one billion chronically hungry people in the world are from Asia. Hence, churches in Asia have a responsibility to place Eco-Justice literacy as a priority concern, which will contribute in developing an ethic of protecting God’s creation and building peace with justice in God’s Oikos.

Other issues and themes addressed in various sessions included the linkage among poverty, wealth, and Nature; current food security situation in Asia; environmental, social, and economic aspects of sustainability and Eco-Justice; climate change; globalisation and its impact; unemployment and the quality of life; political economy and poverty; food contamination; as well as organic and Eco-Just farming.

The Christian theology of creation and the responsibility of human beings in the divine plan for sustaining peace and harmony in God’s household was another major focus of the consultation.

The consultation concluded with a two-day field visit and immersion to the Mae Hang Village in the Lamphang province, where the participants tilled land at a farm in an ethnic minority Karen village.