NCC general secretaries' meeting

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.

03 October 2004
christian conference of Asia, Asia christianity

Christians urged to develop Asiatic ecumenical movement

CHIANG MAI, Thailand  Christians must not only confess faith in a context where their neighbours follow other faiths or no faith, but they must also live the Christian way of life, CCA General Secretary Dr Ahn Jae Woong told a gathering of ecumenical leaders here on 21 September.

Addressing the general secretaries of the national councils of churches and Christian councils from 15 Asian countries, Ahn Jae Woong posed the question, How does a Christian differ from others in work place, in social life and in public life in this continent that we live in?

In every moment of our life, whether it is struggle for life or death, Christians are called to take sides with the poor, oppressed, marginalised, victimised, powerless and weaker sections of the societies, he told them.

Quoting Miguez Bomino, the CCA general secretary said that there is no socially and politically neutral theology; in the struggle for life and death, theology must take sides. 

He said that Christian life is relevant for achieving peoples aspirations and added that The ecumenical movement has a special role to play in liberating peoples captivities of thinking, writing, speaking and performing core values. 

The ecumenical movement should offer new ways of theological framework for fullness of life for all Gods people and building communities of peace for all. 

He urged Asian Christians to develop an Asiatic ecumenical movement with the following characteristics:

Christocentric in nature, where God-Christ event need to be highlighted
Ecclesiocentric in character, where God-Church need to be understood, and
Anthropocentric in manifestation, where God-People-World need to be interrelated.

Ahn felt that Asiatic ecumenical movement should focus on the whole idea of Bona fide, undertaken in good faith as the basis for its values.
Bona fide will help in overcoming any fear of confronting multifaiths and multicultural realities in Asia. 

According to the CCA general secretary, the Asiatic ecumenical movement should deal with:

Crossing national boundaries in order to achieve the ideals of Oikoumene

Overcoming theological and ecclesiological barriers in order to be faithful to God

Confessing Christian beliefs in order to propagate biblical messages

Witnessing Christian values in order to be good neighbours

He listed war on terrorism, crime and violence, discrimination and exclusion, poverty and hunger, negative impact of globalisation, religious fundamentalism, militarisation and nuclearisation, HIV and AIDS and new kinds of pandemic, plight of migrants, refugees, internally displaced people, environmental degradation, women and children, unemployment, poverty, differently abled persons, church and society related issues, Asian spirituality and missionary vocation of the churches.


CCA General Secretary Ahn Jae Woong addressing the
NCC general secretaries' meeting in Chiang Mai


Clement Jonn (fourth from left) and Hansulrich Gerber
(fourth from right) resource persons from the WCC, seen with other
participants.


A section of the participants. Ninan Koshy, a resource
person from India, (clock wise, fourth on the right side)
is also seen


Ahn Jae Woong expressing appreciation to Salvador Martinez,
who preached sermon at the opening worship