Sri Lankan Churches commemorate the 60th anniversary of CCA

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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08 December 2017

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The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) and its member churches commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) in a solemn function of thanksgiving service held in Colombo on 1 December 2017.

Organised by the NCC Sri Lanka, the thanksgiving service was held at the Christian Reformed Church at the Galle Road, Colombo, incidentally being one of the oldest churches in Sri Lanka.

The Thanksgiving and Holy Communion service was attended by about 250 representatives of various member churches of NCCSL and led by the heads of churches and heads of Christian organizations in Sri Lanka.

The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka felicitated leaders who have made a significant  contribution to the ecumenical movement such as Ms. Chithra H Fernando, Rev. Duleep R Fernando, Rev. Elmo P Fernando, Rt. Rev. Kenneth M J Fernando, Mr. Dickie Juriansz, Mr. Alagan S. Kadirgamar, Fr. Sydney Knight, Ms. Audrey Rebera, Mr. Israel Paulraj, Mr. Vijaya W Vidyasagara, Ven.C E Godwin Weerasuriya, Dr. Narmasena Wickramasinghe and CCA General Secretary Dr. Mathews George Chunakara.

While extending the greetings during the service, the General Secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia Dr. Mathews George Chunakara recollected the historical contributions of Sri Lankan churches to the Asian ecumenical movement especially since the founding of the East Asia Christian Conference (EACC), the forerunner of CCA.

Dr. Mathews George Chunakara added that although EACC was officially founded at the Prapat Conference of Asian Church leaders in 1957, the original idea of the formation of EACC was the contribution of Asian church leaders such as D. T. Niles of Sri Lanka at the 1949 Bangkok conference.

Bishop Kenneth Fernando, a former president of CCA delivered the homily during the service and he emphasized the need for strengthening the unity and witness of Asian churches.

Bishop Dhiloraj Canagasabey, president of the NCCSL, Rev. Ebenezer Joseph, General Secretary of NCCSL, Rev. Stanley Nelson President of the Christian Reformed Church, Rev. Saman Perera, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, Colonel Yousaf Masih and Colonel Rebecca Yousaf are the Territorial Commander of the Salvation Army, Rev. Priyantha Wijegoonawardene , General Secretary of the Bible Society and Rev. Dr. Jayasiri Peiris, Principal of the Lanka Theological Seminary led the thanksgiving service.

A seminar on the Asia Mission Statement adopted at the Asia Mission Conference of CCA was held at the NCCSL headquarters in the morning of 1 December in which representatives of Sri Lankan churches, as well as theological students and educators of various theological institutions, attended.