[Update] Violence in Orissa, India

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)
17 September 2008
christian conference of Asia, Asia christianity

Pray for India!

 

To: Member Churches and Councils and Ecumenical Partners.
Please Pray for India!
The CCA has been following the news about religious violence in India during the past few weeks. The anti-Christian violence which started in Orissa last month has now spread to other parts of the country. We have been in touch with Bishop Dhirendra Kumar Sahu, General Secretary of the NCCI, and we received news of churches being burnt and Christians attacked in the state of Karnataka. The Catholic Bishop's Conference of India reported that over a dozen churches and prayer halls were attacked over the weekend.
This trend is especially worrisome as the acts of violence are being spread in states that are being governed by the fundamentalist Hindu based party. In the information that we received, the state governments have been accused of inaction or being slow to respond in many of the attacks.
In the state of Orissa, over 50,000 Christians have been displaced and are unable to return home for fear of more acts of violence.
The Christian Conference of Asia strongly condemns any indiscriminate acts of violence against Christians and church property and call upon both the state and central governments to act decisively to stop such indiscriminate acts of violence by one section of the community against another.
The Christian Conference of Asia also welcomes the courageous response of the Christians and supporting communities in India.
The day of prayer and fasting launched by the Indian Church on 7 September 2008 as a response to the violence against Christians in India has been welcomed by tens of thousands of people.  Instead of responding "to violence with violence", Christians have "fasted and prayed to overcome evil", leaving the ultimate judgment to God. All over India, Christians gathered in the churches or in open spaces to express their participation in the sufferings of their brothers and sisters in faith in Orissa. Members from all the religions participated in the celebration, with prayers and readings taken from the different sacred books: Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, Sarnas (tribal religions), and Christians.
In this age of pluralism, we would like to call upon all people, irrespective of race, culture and religious affiliations, to commit themselves to live in harmony with each other. Our world is big enough for everyone.
In solidarity with our brothers and sisters in India, we would like to encourage all member churches and councils and ecumenical partners to:

 

  • Pray for the churches in India
  • Write letters of support and encouragement to our NCCI and member churches in India.
    The NCCI has agreed to coordinate the distribution of any contribution made towards the relief and rehabilitation of victims of the religious violence and for the rebuilding of the destroyed churches. Please contact Bishop Dhirendra Kumar Sahu directly at the NCCI,

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +91-712-2531312

Fax: +91-712-2520554

 

  • Write letters to the Indian Embassies in your countries encouraging them to act more decisively to stop all acts of violence that is being perpetrated against the church and the Christian community.

 

 

 

Thank you.

 

 

Prawate Khid-arn

General Secretary

Christian Conference of Asia