Sudhir Adhikari, Bangladesh Ecumenical Leader 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).

No preference updated.

21 September 2016

sudhir-adhikari-b

Sudhir Adhikari, a prominent ecumenical leader in Bangladesh passed away this morning (21 September) in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Born in Barisal, Bangladesh in a traditional Baptist Christian family, Sudhir Adhikari was a scientist by profession and worked with the government of Pakistan and Bangladesh for several years. As a devoted lay member of the Bangladesh Baptist Church Sangha (BBCS), the octogenarian Sudhir Adhikari served the church and society in various capacities. He was President of the National Council of Churches in Bangladesh and President of various Christian development and service agencies in the country. He served on various committees of BBCS and its development and service division for several years.

In a condolence message issued by the General Secretary of Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) Dr. Mathews George Chunakara said, “Sudhir Adhikari was a committed Christian and an ecumenical leader who devoted his time and talents for church and society. His contributions to the ecumenical movement in Bangladesh and to the marginalized Christians in the country will be remembered and recorded in history”

CCA General Secretary recollected that “Sudhir Adhikari coordinated a special study programme initiated by the Asia Desk of WCC during 2001-2003 to amend the Christian Marriage Act-1872, anoutdated law related to the solemnization of the marriages of Christians in Bangladesh.

Mathews George also stated that “Sudhir Adhikari contributed to and actively participated in CCA’s special study project in the 1990s on Freedom of Religion in Asia”.

Sudhir Adhikari was instrumental in inviting the World Council of Churches’ intervention in Bangladesh for emergency relief and rehabilitation in war-torn Bangladesh in the 1970s. With the assistance of Dr. C.I. Itty, the then-Director of the Commission of the Churches Participation in Development (CCPD) of WCC, Sudhir Adhikari called the attention of WCC’s Commission of Inter church Aid, Refugee and World Service (CICARWS) to intervene and extend support to the victims of war in Bangladesh. Sudhir Adhikari’s efforts through WCC finally led to the creation of the Bangladesh Emergency Relief and Relief Service (BERRS) through the coordination of WCC, which was subsequently converted in the post war period as the Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (CCDB).

The funeral will take place at his ancestral village in Barisal on 22 September.