Global Ecumenical Partners affirm CCA’s Distinctive Witness in Asia

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.

28 October 2016

gp-rt                                                                                     CCA's ecumenical partners with the CCA leadership and staff team in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

A roundtable meeting of the Christian Conference of Asia’s global ecumenical partners affirmed CCA’s unique and distinctive role of witnessing in Asia’s emerging contexts.

The roundtable meeting with the ecumenical partners, mostly from Europe and North America, met with the CCA leadership and staff team at the CCA headquarters in Chiang Mai, Thailand on 25-26 October 2016.

This year’s roundtable, which was convened after a gap of three years, focused on enhancing mutual support and working together in a more efficient and organised way. The ecumenical partners who attended the meeting appreciated the new strategic plans and priorities of the CCA for the period 2016-2020.

In his opening remarks, CCA General Secretary Dr. Mathews George Chunakara told the group, “in order to address emerging concerns in Asia, the CCA has been envisioning its program thrusts with contextual relevancy for the next five years, and the strategic program priorities have been identified and developed accordingly with the thematic focus of ‘CCA: Shaping a New Ecumenical Paradigm for Living Together in God’s Oikos.’”

While introducing the strategic program plan for 2017, the CCA General Secretary further added that, “as the CCA enters into a new phase of its life and witness, it continues to be committed to perform its prophetic role and respond to God’s call with greater obedience and trust in His unfailing promise.”

The participants of the roundtable meeting were also briefed on the detailed plans of CCA’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the Asia Mission Conference (AMC) to be held in October 2017.

CCA Vice Moderator Rev. Diana Tana of the Methodist Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, Patricia Talbot of the United Church of Canada and Sandy Sneddon of the Church of Scotland chaired various sessions.

John Hasselgren (Church of Sweden), Rev. Barry Dawson (Presbyterian Church of USA), Kathrin Theurer (Bread for the World, Germany), Levi Bautista (Church and Society, United Methodist Church and the Asia Pacific Forum of North America), Maaike Wigboldus (ICCO/Kerk in Actie, Netherlands), Patricia Talbot (United Church of Canada), Rebecca Asedillo Cunningham (General Board of Global Ministries United Methodist Church, USA), Risto Jukko (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland), Anders Salomonsson (Church of Sweden), Sandy Sneddon (Church of Scotland, UK) and Arapera Ngaha (Methodist Church of New Zealand) shared information on their respective organisations and programmatic involvement in Asia, especially with the CCA.

Augustine Deepak Karmakar (Treasurer of CCA), Rev. Kyrie Kim (Chairperson of CCA Program Committee), CCA program executives and coordinators Rev. Jung Eun Moon, Dr. Reynaldo Racaza Ty and Dr. Alphinus Kambodji led discussions during various sessions dealing with strategic program plans and activities.

The programs and activities scheduled for 2017 cover a wide spectrum of issues and themes with an aim to enable Asian churches to equip themselves to be more deeply involved in strengthening their witness and unity.