World Council of Churches to facilitate Week of Prayer on COVID-19 pandemic

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.

17 March 2021

Churches and ecumenical councils across the world will join together in a week of prayer from 22–27 March 2021. 

Initiated by the World Council of Churches (WCC), the week of prayer on the COVID-19 pandemic will be led by church and ecumenical leaders from WCC member churches, as well as from regional and national ecumenical councils. 

The week of prayer marks one year since the global spread of COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO). According to WHO data, there have been over 99 million cases and over 2 million deaths. 

The pandemic has brought on medical, economic, and even spiritual crises among millions of people in all parts of the world. 

The week of prayer hopes to provide an opportunity to reinforce mutual solidarity, support, and accompaniment through the pandemic.

The period of prayer will focus on specific concerns such as Lament and Grief; Hurting and Suffering Communities; Leaders; Healing; Protection; Hope and Salvation.

The CCA General Secretary Dr Mathews George Chunakara urged all member churches and councils of the CCA, as well as partners and people of goodwill in Asia to join in the week of prayer, which will be held online.

Speaking on the significance of this International Week of Prayer, the General Secretary of the CCA, Dr Mathews George Chunakara, said, “Although the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed our deepest vulnerabilities and fragility, Asian churches accompanied the faithful and strengthened them with immense resilience and spiritual nourishment. The spiritual accompaniment made possible by the Week of Prayer facilitated by WCC will further strengthen our faith as well as collaborations and solidarity especially when we begin to rebuild from the worst impacts of the pandemic with hope for a blessed future for all.”

For more information, please visit the WCC’s resources below:

WCC announces Week of Prayer on COVID-19 Pandemic