Prof. George Koshy, senior lay church and ecumenical leader in India, passes away

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.

18 January 2022

Prof. George Koshy, a well-known lay church and ecumenical leader in India and former General Secretary of the Church of South India (CSI), passed away on 15 January 2022 after a brief illness and hospitalisation in his native town of Kottayam, in southern India. He was 90 years old.

Prof. Koshy was elected General Secretary of the CSI Synod for four consecutive terms from 1990-1998. A renowned professor of English, he joined the CMS College in Kottayam in 1956 as a teacher of English Language and Literature, and earned the reputation of being the institute’s all-time favourite faculty member.

Prof. Koshy became professor and head of the department, as well as the Vice Principal of CMS College. He took early retirement from his full-time professorship and became actively involved in the CSI Synod leadership and the global ecumenical movement, starting from 1990.

While expressing condolences on the demise of one of the most senior ecclesial and ecumenical lay leaders in India, the CCA General Secretary Dr Mathews George Chunakara stated that Prof. George Koshy was India’s lay church leader who devoted a substantial part of his life to the church and the ecumenical movement at the local and international levels starting from a very young age.

“An illustrious teacher, who has been a guiding light for generations of students he taught, committed his entire life not only to the academic field but also to the ecclesial and ecumenical arena. He will be remembered as a role model for combining his expertise in serving the secular academic professions as well as faithfully serving the local and worldwide church alike as a lay member,” said Dr Mathews George Chunakara.

Apart from being a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) from 1991 to 1998, Prof. Koshy served as the Vice-Chairman of the International Council of Anglican Churches, Executive Committee Member of the Council for World Mission London, World Methodist Council, Evangelical Mission in South-West Germany, and National Council of Churches in India. He had also become the Regional Director of Y’s Men International, South West India Region. He was a delegate of the CSI to the 10th General Assembly of the CCA held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1995.

His wife, Dr Molly Koshy, passed away a few years ago; he is survived by three daughters—Jeena, Neena, and Teena. Prof. Ninan Koshy, former Director of the WCC’s Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, was his younger brother.