Ecumenical leadership development training affirms witnessing together in God’s Mission

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.

27 March 2018

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“Today, our ecumenical call is to proclaim the Gospel to all God’s people and witness together in participating to build the Kingdom of God”, affirmed a group of church leaders from Cambodia’s rural congregations.

The ecumenical leadership development training organized by the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) in collaboration with the Kampuchea Christian Council (KCC) was held at the headquarters of the KCC in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 20 to 23 March.

The theme of the training was ‘Arise, shine; for your light has come: Let Us Witness Together’.

Forty five participants representing grassroots congregations in Cambodia attended the training and tried to contextualize their faith and witness.

In a communique issued towards the end of the training, the participants stated that “we discussed on how the Asian Christians are called to arise, shine and witness together in God’s mission as well as responding to social, political, economic, religious and ecological dimensions”.

“As the Christians in Asia, especially in Cambodia are a minority, their voices have been inadequate although it has significant effectiveness in some places. Israelites had been called to witness to the entire Gentile world; Asian Christians are now called to arise, shine, and witness to the entire Asia and the world as well”.

“God calls us to be in solidarity with the less privileged and transform injustices to justices that gradually enlighten the world. It is God’s ongoing interventions for the restorations of the Asian people, giving them new hope, new vision and empowerment through His Spiritual enlightenment” 

The participants representing congregations from different Provinces in Cambodia reiterated that “the articulation of theological vision in relevant ways should enable the faith communities to overcome challenges, and to find new ways to participate in God’s mission in unity“.

The topics discussed in detail include the Asian interreligious contexts, Biblical values to engage in sharing of wealth and resources to the poor and the needy, God’s gifts to create justice and peace in the world.

Rev. Dr. Chuleeparn Sarioontorn, Rev. Dr. Ngur Liana and Dr. Reynaldo Ty facilitated and coordinated the ecumenical enablers training sessions.

The Ecumenical Enablers’ Training in Asia (EETA) programme of CCA focuses on ecumenical formation of church leaders  to strengthen ecumenical theological undergirding at the grassroots leadership.

The Kampuchea Christian Council was founded in 1998 as an outcome of special ecumenical ministry among the newly formed churches in post war Cambodia by the Christian Conference of Asia and the World Council of Churches in collaborations with churches and ecumenical partners from different countries.