Myanmar Churches reflect on contextual interpretation of Asia Mission Statement

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.

04 May 2018

IMG_0124

A national consultation initiated by the Myanmar Council of Churches (MCC) to reflect on ‘Towards Contextual Interpretations of Asia Mission Statement in the Context of Myanmar’ was held on 1 May 2018 in Yangon, Myanmar.

Organized by the Mission and Ecumenism Department of the MCC, the Yangon Conference was a follow-up of the Asia Mission Conference (AMC) organized by the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) in October 2017.

More than fifty participants representing 21 denominations of member churches and regional councils of the MCC, as well as representatives from Pentecostal and Evangelical churches attended the Conference.

Rev. Mahn Palmerston, the General Secretary of the MCC, in his opening address emphasized the importance of the Asia Mission Statement in the Myanmar contexts and the need for creative interpretations to be developed by the churches in Myanmar.

Rev. Dr. Ngur Liana of CCA, in a keynote address focused on the contextual theological methods and reflections. He explained the theological, missiological, ecumenical and contextual relevance of the Asia Mission Statement.

The participants affirmed the ways in which the churches in Myanmar would engage in the contextual interpretations of the Asia Mission Statement -2017, and how to take them as theological hermeneutics in Myanmar in order to engage meaningfully in prophetic witness.

Rev. Thawng Ling of the Mara Evangelical Church in Myanmar said, “the areas of mission concerns articulated in the Asia Mission Conference and the Statement are relevant to real situations and realities in Myanmar; it is our duty to contextualize them in our local context”

Rev. Patrick Lain Tonge, of the Anglican Church in Myanmar stated, “Ecological issues are our urgent need in Myanmar and we need to theologize ecological concerns as part of our mission.”

On nurturing interfaith dialogue, Rev. U Myo Chit of the Upper Myanmar Methodist Church, said, “Interfaith dialogue is one of the most important contextual issues in the Myanmar today and missiological relevance of such an issue should be identified”.

Several other participants also affirmed that churches’ theological vision was to reinterpret and contextualize the mission concerns with an aim of going beyond the traditional mission paradigm. Their affirmations also underscored the value to engage in stewardship and kinship as a core thrust of faith; accompany refugees, those internally displaced; treat the excluded and marginalized in a fairly manner; build peace in the midst of conflicts and geo-political turmoil; stand for economic justice; nurture interfaith harmony and religious tolerance for peaceful coexistence in the country, and to be engaged in prophetic witnessing.

Kathy Min Din, Associate General Secretary of the MCC recalled the ongoing ecumenical relations between the MCC and CCA through collaboration, encouragement and mutual support, and she said that “the Asia Mission Conference and the Diamond Jubilee celebration of the CCA held in Myanmar were historic milestones of the Asian ecumenical movement to which Myanmar churches contributed significantly. The time has come now for the churches in Myanmar to reflect further on the mission and witness with an ecumenical commitment”.