'Reconciliation, Renewal and Restoration: Divine Indicative and Human Imperative’ will be the theme of 2019 Congress of Asian Theologians (CATS)

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).

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30 November 2018

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The Advisory Committee of CATS which met at the headquarters of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) from 26 to 29 November 2018 decided to propose ‘Reconciliation, Renewal and Restoration: Divine Indicative and Human Imperative’ as the theme of the ninth Congress of Asian Theologians (CATS-IX).

The CATS-IX will be held in Kandy, Sri Lanka from 5 to 10 August 2019.

The Advisory Committee of CATS consists of representatives of CCA, the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), Association of Theological Education in South East Asia (ATESEA), and Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore Colleges (BTESSC) undertook extensive deliberations to finalise the theme, as well as to work out the modalities of various components of thematic and plenary sessions.

CATS-IX will bring together 100 selected Asian theologians - theological educators, research scholars, especially young theologians and provide them space to exchange their experiences and research results related to Asian theologies.

In addition to four thematic presentations, CATS-IX will feature panel presentations, interfaith dialogue sessions, ecumenical conversations and dialogue on emerging Asian issues and Asian theologies in specific contexts.

Dr. Mathews George Chunakara, General Secretary of CCA outlined the objectives of the Asian theologians’ summit next year, and stated that the “CATS-IX will be a premier interdisciplinary platform for budding theologians, researchers, practitioners and educators from ecclesiological diversities in Asia to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns in the field of Asian theologies in context”.

“CCA encourages theologians in Asia and Asian theologians in diaspora to contribute and present papers on topics related to the theme and sub-themes of CATS-IX", added the CCA General Secretary.

All those interested in participating in CATS-IX must submit their application preferably with endorsement from their sponsoring bodies/ theological schools, or churches.

The CCA offers limited travel grants, mainly to students, PhD research scholars, and early career scholars.

Initiated by the CCA in the mid-1990s, the first CATS was held in Suwin, South Korea in 1997 and the last one was held in Kochi, Kerala, India in 2016.

The CATS provides opportunities for Asian theologians including the Asian theologians in diaspora to come together in a common platform, debate common interests and form networks.