Letter of Solidarity to Pakistan

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).

First Preference:
Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF)
Second Preference:
Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia and Advocacy (PD)
01 October 2013
christian conference of Asia, Asia christianity

With its Muslim-style features, minaret-like towers, gleaming white dome topped by a large black cross and biblical quotations inscribed on the walls in English, Hebrew and Persian scripts, the All Saints Church in Peshawar has for more than a century, offered an architectural expression of interfaith harmony. Built in 1883, All Saints Church was all set to commemorate 130 years of existence in December this year. Interestingly Masjid Dervish, one of the largest mosques of the city and St Michael’s Catholic Church, one of the oldest churches of the province on Peshawar’s Mall Road, share a boundary wall, and have thus existed in complete harmony for decades. This bears witness to the long tradition of interfaith harmony in the city.

The bomb attack, killing innocent men, women and children, who were engaged in peaceful prayer and worship, and the attack on this icon of harmony, came as a rude shock. Please see the Letter of Solidarity that was sent to our brothers and sisters in Peshawar, from the Executive Committee that had met from 24-27 September 2013.

27 September 2013 To:

Rt. Rev. Humphrey S. Peters, Bishop of Peshawar
Rt. Rev. Samuel Azariah, Bishop, Church of Pakistan
Rev. Hanook Haque, General Secretary, The Presbyterian Church of Pakistan
Mr. Victor Azaraiah, General Secretary, National Council of Churches in Pakistan
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

We are extremely shocked and dismayed at the news of a pair of suicide bombers blowing themselves up outside the All Saints Church in Peshawar, Pakistan, after the Sunday service, killing at least 78 people. The sad news was shared during the Executive Committee meeting held in Chiang Mai, last week. We deplore in highest terms the bombing. May those who have died be received into God’s perpetual mercy and care. We reach out in solidarity to those who are grieving over the loss of loved ones and friends. It is our prayer that God’s holy comfort will surround you. We hope and pray that the government authorities will conduct an impartial investigation and see that the perpetrators are caught and brought to justice. At the same time, we pray and hope that a spirit of respect for the sacred spaces of the faith communities in Pakistan will prevail.

We have also been distraught following the news of the earthquakes in Pakistan soon after the bombing incident. We pray and mourn with you too, for the people who have lost their lives. May God give you the courage to meet the days ahead even as we pray for those engaged in relief and rehabilitation operations, medical care and such other actions to ease somehow the burden brought about by the tragedy. May God move the hearts of all people of goodwill to support you in prayers and in action.

In these tragic events, we yet depend on God’s love and justice in Jesus Christ. May you also be comforted by the apostolic words of Paul: “Who shall separate us from the love Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword? . . . . For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35, 38-39.

In prayer and solidarity,

Henriette Hutabarat Lebang
General Secretary
On behalf of CCA Executive Committee