A Statement

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).

First Preference:
Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia and Advocacy (PD)
Second Preference:
General Secretariat (GS)
16 September 2004
christian conference of Asia, Asia christianity

from a youth consultation on living our faiths in community

Young people as peace makers and culture bearers

We, 48 participants from Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Indonesia, Hong Kong and America met in Henry Martyn Institute at Aman Shanti Nilayam-Shivrampally Hyderabad, India from 5-11 September 2004 to attend a consultation on 'Living our Faiths in Community' organized by APAY, CCA and EED. We came from regions and countries ravished by wars, conflict and violence, and representing different faiths, belief systems and ethnicities. During the five days, we explored, shared and deliberated on how our different religions can be used to promote peace, harmony and unity in our communities, region and the world.

We acknowledge the presence of a unifying power of compassion and love in our lives and our work which brings us together to work for justice, peace and harmony. Our rootedness in this belief is what motivated us to gather here as a multi-faith, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural community of young people to study the root causes of conflict and seek positive alternatives to bring about transformation. We also acknowledge that each of us has a significant role to play in co-creating a new and just world.

In the year 2000, the United Nations declared the following decade as the 'Decade of a Culture of Peace.' In reality the world, especially Asia, remains filled with conflict, violence and division. In the midst of these realities, we recognize that all religions promote unity, harmony, love, peace and tolerance and could play a significant role in helping realize the UN's 'Decade of a Culture of Peace'.

As we explored Asian realities through personal experiences and case studies from our respective regions, we identified five major issues that contribute to conflict and seriously impact the lives of all people in the region, especially the marginalized. These five issues are:

1 Globalization
We have seen the negative impact of those aspects of globalization that create unjust economic structures and relationships, preventing the vast majority of the people from enjoying the benefits of their own resources while filling the pockets of a powerful few.

2 Identity
The rise of chauvinism and dominance by majority groups in many countries has marginalized minority groups giving rise to power struggles. The response to these struggles is often more severe repression, further alienating the minority groups. Thus violence spirals further out of control..

3 Religion
Religion is often misunderstood, misinterpreted and misused by extremist groups, resulting in hostilities, mistrust, hatred and violence. Even though all religions teach tolerance and love, these misrepresentations dehumanize societies and breakdown conditions for peaceful co-existence.

4 Militarization
We observed that militarization does not provide people with a true sense of security and thus alternative forms of security, from local to the regional level, need to be explored and modeled by the interfaith community.

5 Patriarchy
Our social systems are deeply rooted in patriarchy and many of our religious institutions are sources that reinforce this injustice. This contributes to the marginalization of women, both in religious communities and in the society at large.

Our vision as youth is that religious communities of all faiths will come together in unity and cooperation to creatively address these identified issues. We as youth in Asia believe that it is our responsibility to work toward this vision by building a network that is multi-faith, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and regional in nature.

From experiences shared through our case studies and discussions, we became more aware of our collective strength and potential in working for justice and peace at the local, national and regional levels. To more effectively utilize these strengths we need to build an interfaith regional network that can educate, organize and mobilize youth as agents of change. Through our lives and work, we will strive to be examples of an alternative society in which the five identified crucial issues are challenged and transformed.

This can be achieved by:

1.Conducting local, national and regional workshops/consultations that would provide skills and knowledge needed to address these issues.

2.Building national and regional inter-faith networks that can cooperatively respond to violence of all kinds and forms in the region.

3.Organizing public campaigns to pressurize governments, religious institutions/bodies and the civil society through creatively using all forms of media.

4.Creating spaces and platforms for interfaith dialogue and cooperation.

5.Utilizing development and social programs that respond to the felt needs of communities as a channel for raising awareness and organizing for action.

6.Setting up exposures, exchange visits and live-in experience programs for youth and grassroots communities.

7.Reaching out to support groups for financial aid and human resources that help sustain local and regional interfaith initiatives.

We further recommend to the international community that:

1.Assistance be given to organize workshops/consultations and other inter-faith youth programs to help strengthen and expand the regional network.

2.To help provide opportunities for interfaith youth of Asia to study and learn the skills and knowledge needed to build peace constituencies.

3.Support be given to establish an interfaith youth center for research, documentation, publication, and dissemination of information that can strengthen the work of youth in confronting the issues identified.

4.Help build interfaith spiritual centers that foster interfaith understanding, cooperation and inner transformation.

5.Governments, religious institutions and UN bodies be urged to support interfaith youth initiatives for justice and peace.

We urge that all women, young people and marginalized communities affected by political, economic, religious or social policies, be given a voice in decision-making processes.

May peace prevail in the world.