Ecumenical consultation affirms Christians to be sensitive to other faiths

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).

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16 August 2018
Group Photo (NR)participants of the International Consultation

An international ecumenical consultation on ‘Wider Ecumenism as Prophetic Witness’ affirmed that “Christians have to recognize God’s image in adherents of all religious traditions and Asian Christians must be sensitive to the tremendous contributions the other religions are still making to the shaping of Asian culture”.

Jointly organised by the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), Association of Christian Institutions for Social Concerns in Asia (ACISCA), Board of Theological Education of Senate of Serampore College (BTESSC) and the Ecumenical Christian Centre (ECC), the consultation was hosted by the Ecumenical Christian Centre in Bangalore, India and held from 7 to 11 August 2018.

The consultation was attended by 110 participants.

The participants affirmed that “love is the essence of Trinity and the Trinitarian faith; engaging each other in interfaith dialogue should aim at strengthening our understanding on wider ecumenism as prophetic witness”.

In his inaugural address Bishop Dr. Geevarghese Mar Theodosius, Chairperson of the Ecumenical Christian Centre stated that ecumenism should always be understood in a context of wider realities arising in our societies and communities and that prophetic witness was inseparable, especially in contexts where peace with justice was negated.

The General Secretary of CCA, Dr. Mathews George Chunakara in his introductory address at the opening session of the Consultation said, “The wider dimension of ecumenism in terms of addressing emerging challenges was redefined and recognised globally in the past decades. However, as the shift in the ecumenical paradigm has been changing the traditional concept, the role of the ecumenical movement also should be reassessed, especially in terms of articulating the vision of ecumenism from a perspective of ecclesial unity to wider ecumenism”.

“The imperative to search for the meaning of wider ecumenism as prophetic witness has to be recognised in order to hold on the vision of the Oikoumene”, added the CCA General Secretary.

In a keynote address delivered at the opening session of the consultation, Bishop Dr. Daniel Thiagarajah of Sri Lanka said, “We have come to a point where we cannot theologize apart from making relevant connections with the religions among which are placed”.

“While it is encouraging that a number of churches are beginning to take note of  interfaith cooperation,  many still continue to focus purely on the western missionary preoccupation of numerical growth of the church , thus ignoring the harmony of Asian society as well as dividing the Asian Christians”, added Bishop Thiagarajah.

Prof. Dr. Mathew Chandrakunnel, Director of the Ecumenical Christian Centre stated that the thematic focus of the consultation and the platform provided for the Asian churches and Asian ecumenical organisations would strengthen a collective effort to wider ecumenism in Asia.

In the presentation on wider ecumenism as prophetic witness from a gender perspective, Dr. Naw Eh Tar Gay from Myanmar Institute of Theology focused on the role of women in prophetic engagement in the context of Asia.

Fr. Jose Kuttiani Mattathil of the Roman Catholic Church in India suggested a shift from classical western ecumenism to a God-centred Trinitarian ecumenism which would gradually lead to strengthening wider ecumenism in Asia.

Caroline Basutti of the Focalare Movement added that nurturing spirituality will strengthen wider ecumenism in all contexts.

Rev. Prem Mitra of the Church of South India reminded the need for a theological presupposition which will engage in the context of wider ecumenism in Asia. He further mentioned the need for valuing of “a paradigm shift from human-centric ecology to biodiversity-centred ecology”.

While depicting the concepts of ‘realised catholicity and wider ecumenical vision’, Dr. Jakob Tronet of Chruch of Sweden stated, “Catholicity is not only a principle or collection of doctrinal points but something that is made manifest in the life of the church: it is in the practises of the church that its catholicity becomes realised.”

In a panel discussion on ‘Reconfiguration of Ecumenism Beyond Christian Ecumenism’ Rev. Dr. Jayasiri Pieris of the Theological College of Lanka said, “a festival model of ecumenism which will bring friendship and solidarity with the victims will be most valuable in Asia”.

Rev. Dr. Santanu Kumar Patro of the Senate of the Serampore outlined the reasons for the failure of Church-centred ecumenism today and emphasised the need for wider ecumenism on the basis of a God-centred ecumenism which was more relevant to the Asian context.

Rev. Dr. Binsar Jonathan Pakpahan of the Jakarta Theological Seminary in Indonesia said, “Rooting ecumenism in love that maintains justice in journeying together with all people and other religions in Asia is required”.

Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Thathapudi, Secretary of the BTESSC said “The ecumenical movement has become rusty after half-a-century of its existence, and a move for a new form of ecumenism or wider ecumenism is inevitable in Asia”.

Venerable Khenpo Rimpoche of Tibetan Buddhism shared the values offered by Buddhism to transform painful situations into conditions that foster progress on the spiritual path. He said “As much as we try, we cannot tailor the world to suit our own ways and unwanted circumstances may lead to feelings of frustration, victimization or anger”.

Swamiji Mahagate, a Hindu monk from Nepal urged the participants to find the values of unity in diversity as one could not distinguish or discriminate other persons on the basis of their religious identity as they were absorbed in the infinite spirit.

“One sees differences only on a lower level but from the pinnacle of God’s love, all distinctions disappear”, said Swamiji Mahagate.

A communique adopted at the end of the consultation stated that “Wider ecumenism and the Missio Dei have deep hermeneutical links and pave the way towards the unity of  the entire oikoumene”.

Click here download <<communique>> International-Consultation-on-Wider-Ecumenism-as-Prophetic-Witness-Communique.pdf