Renowned Filipino ecumenical leader and theological educator Rev. Dr Sharon Rose Joy Ruiz-Duremdes 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).

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30 October 2025

Photo credit: National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP)

Chiang Mai, Thailand: Rev. Dr Sharon Rose Joy Ruiz-Duremdes, a renowned ecumenical leader, theological educator, and former General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) passed away on 30 October 2025. She was 78 years old.  

Rev. Dr Sharon served as a member of the General Committee of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) from 2000 to 2005.

Rev. Dr Sharon was the first woman elected to serve as General Secretary of the NCCP. She led the NCCP with courage and vision for one biennial and two quadrennial terms (2000 to 2007), a period marked by the NCCP’s strong prophetic witness for human rights, gender justice, environmental stewardship, and the pursuit of just and lasting peace.

Expressing sorrow over her passing, CCA General Secretary Dr Mathews George Chunakara said, “The Christian Conference of Asia joins the churches and ecumenical movement in the Philippines in mourning the passing of Rev. Dr Sharon Rose Joy Ruiz-Duremdes. We thank God for her life and faithful service, and we offer our deepest sympathies to her family and all who grieve her loss.”

Recollecting his association with Dr Sharon while he was Asia Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and she was General Secretary of the NCCP, Dr Chunakara stated that Dr Sharon led the NCCP at a very crucial time amidst severe financial constraints, when ecumenical funding assistance to the national ecumenical council was withdrawn by partners from Western churches due to the NCCP’s critical views and positions on the worsening socio-political situation and the brutal killings of church workers in the country.

Dr Chunakara added that Dr Sharon demonstrated remarkable courage in remaining faithful to her Christian values and prophetic witness, as well as her unwavering conviction in challenging the prevailing injustices, authoritarianism, rampant militarisation, and brutal killings of church workers for their support of social and human rights activists who were branded as communist insurgents.

“Dr Sharon’s profound Bible studies and poignant theological exegesis, at a time when the church and faith community institutions in the Philippines were under siege, inspired many to reflect on their role in challenging authoritarian and repressive power structures and the perpetrators of human rights violations as part of their prophetic witness,” Dr Mathews George Chunakara further added.

The ecumenical human rights report written by Dr Sharon on behalf of the NCCP under the title “Let the Stones Cry Out” called the attention of the international community at large. The report conveyed the collective cry for justice of thousands of Filipinos, including more than 800 victims of extra-judicial executions from 2001 to 2006, who suffered the brunt of human rights violations under the Philippine government’s counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism strategies.

Rev. Dr Sharon also headed an international delegation of church leaders and human rights advocates that presented the report to the US Congress, the Canadian Parliament, the European Union in Brussels, and the United Nations Human Rights Council Sessions in Geneva. This international ecumenical advocacy effort under her leadership contributed to a subsequent reduction in the number of killings orchestrated by the Philippine military and paramilitary force.

As a theological educator and professor of the Central Philippines University College of Theology, Rev. Dr Sharon Rose Ruiz-Duremdez inspired hundreds of students.  

In 1968, Dr Sharon graduated from CPU with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Magna Cum Laude, and became the third CPU student to be named among the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines. After graduation, she volunteered as an overseas missionary of the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches and went to Semarang, Indonesia, to work with Indonesian students. She began teaching at the CPU College of Theology in 1973 after completing her studies at Berkeley Divinity School in California, USA.

Rev. Dr Sharon Rose Joy Ruiz-Duremdes is survived by her husband, Judge Nery Duremdes, and their children Mitzi May, Lily Joyce, and Luke.

The CCA General Secretary's condolence message can be found below.