‘Resistance hermeneutics’ and ‘resistance theology’ can be a powerful tool in recovering life-sustaining indigenous worldviews, tells Filipino woman theologian at CATS-IX

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.

07 August 2019

IMG_9777

“Resistance hermeneutics’ and ‘resistance theology’ can be powerful tools in recovering life-giving and life-sustaining indigenous worldviews that can provide an alternate lens in re-examining dominant theologies and doing contextual theology”, stated Filipino woman theologian Dr Lily Apura at the Congress of Asian Theologians (CATS)-IX being held in Medan, Indonesia.

Delivering the second thematic address on ‘Reconciliation: Towards the Harmony of Creation’, at the CATS-IX, Dr Apura said, “In history, imperial drive for power and wealth are the cause of the subjugation and colonization of weaker peoples and nations throughout the world. Death, destruction, disease, and misery accompanied the imperialistic advances in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In the former colonies, Christianity is still associated with hegemonic powers. This leads to a distortion in the understanding of Christianity’s essential message,” said Dr Lily Apura, a professor at the Divinity School of Siliman University in the Philippines.

Through a reinterpretation of Biblical texts, Dr Apura visualised ‘a feminine God’ whose life-giving nature manifested all ‘beings’ into creation. “God in Genesis is portrayed as a mother of all organisms; like a mother, God creates a home for all. As a mother and homemaker, God gave humankind the vocation to be motherly and maintain the Earth as the home for other creatures.”

A pertinent point Dr Apura brought back in focus was Sophia theology. She verbalized how Wisdom was personified as a lady ‘who is at peace with oneself and the world, lives by what she believes to be right, continually subjects herself to the pursuit of what is beautiful, true, just, and right’. Wisdom, she stated, was what held the universe together by its moral order.

Dr Apura then extended her ideas and redefined the concept of sin- “Sin, in wisdom, is thus the loss of the fear of the Lord; which results in alienation, pain, labour, and death. Sin destroyed the harmonious symbiotic relationship in the whole cosmos – a corruption for which human beings are responsible.”

Providing the example of Christ on the cross, Dr Apura stated that the ‘hope of liberation of the perpetrators and of dismantling of sinful structures rests on the forgiveness and liberation of the perpetrator by the victim’. Forgiveness, she said, was the harder choice; “It holds the victimiser accountable, it recognizes pain, but it is a choice not to allow pain and victimisation to dictate one’s life and actions.” Just like Jesus, the ‘humble and meek of the earth can turn their victimisation into a gift’.

Dr Apura’s radical approach generated serious discussions among the participants.

Venerable Mahamuni Sritha Mahagatha, a Hindu monk from Nepal who was also in attendance at the session, commented: “Forgiving one’s enemy does not only mean being friends with the oppressor; but forgiving also means forgetting.”

Dr. Immanuel Mathew Thathapudy of the Senate of Serampore University moderated the session.

More than 120 theologians from across Asia are participating in CATS-IX, which is being held in Medan, North Sumatra in Indonesia, and hosted by Gereja Bethel Indonesia Medan Plaza.