Korean Churches reflect on foot-prints of the reunification movement

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.

13 March 2018

thumbnail_groop photo(Korea Trip_GS)

An international consultation organised by the Korean churches commemorated the 1988 Declaration of South Korean churches on national Reconciliation and reunification, the first declaration ever initiated by the people’s movement in South Korea when the country was still ruled under a military dictatorship.                              

Organised and facilitated by the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK), the consultation held in Seoul, South Korea from 5 to 8 March 2018 was attended by more than 120 participants from South Korea and several other countries in the world.

The 1988 Declaration on ‘National Reunification and Peace’ issued by the Churches in Korea greatly influenced people’s movement for reunification of Korean peninsula.

While speaking on the theme, ‘ Peace and Security in East Asia: Transforming Division and Moving Beyond Conflicts’, Dr. Mathews George Chunakara, General Secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) said , “ As long as the U.S government continues its policy of ostracisation, North Korea becomes the most difficult threat to peace and security in East Asia.

The CCA General Secretary further added that, “Denuclearization in the Korean peninsula will require all stakeholders in Northeast Asia –, DPRK, U.S, Japan, and especially China - to cooperate on measures that could help North Korea return to the negotiating table”

A Communique adopted at the end of the consultation welcomed reports that North Korea expressed commitments to suspend its nuclear weapons development programme in order to enable dialogue to take place.

The communique stated that, “We have been blessed to be meeting during the very days of the most hopeful developments for peace in the region for many years, with the South Korean delegation visit to Pyongyang on 6 March – the first high-level direct talks between the two Koreas in more than a decade – and the announced commitment to a peace summit in April 2018”.

The communique further added that, “we give joyful thanks to God for these developments. We especially welcome the reported commitment by the DPRK leadership to suspend its nuclear weapons development programme in order to enable dialogue to take place, and the indication that the DPRK sees no need to retain nuclear weapons if military threats against the DPRK and its regime abate”.

The Consultation adopted an action plan for Korean peace advocacy at the national and international levels.