WSCF general assembly

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:
Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF)
17 August 2004
christian conference of Asia, Asia christianity


CCA General Secretary Dr Ahn Jae Woong delivering the sermon at the
opening worship of the WSCF assembly in Chiang Mai


WSCF senior friends meeting:From right, Ken Guest, (USA) newly elected chair
of the WSCF, Ahn Jae Woong (Hong Kong),Marshal Fernando (Sri Lanka),
Philip Mathew (Hong Kong), Taku Kumakiri (Japan)
and Glenda Rocas (Philippines)


Senior friends of the WSCF: From left, Yong Ting Jin (Malaysia)
Shin Seung Min, Regional Secretary, (WSCF-AP Region), Michael Wallace,
(New Zealand) newly elected Co-General Secretary of the WSCF, Georgia Yam
(Australia) and Stephen Hsu (Taiwan)

Dont lose the movement character, ecumenical leader tells WSCF

CHIANG MAI, Thailand  As a local choir rendered the Thai traditional hymns, some 175 students, youth and senior friends from across the globe walked into a hall here on 7 August to attend a worship marking the formal opening of the general assembly of the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF).

The 33rd general assembly on the theme Talitha Cum! Arise to life in abundance! (Mark 5:41) gathered participants from Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, North America and Asia-Pacific regions of the WSCF, considered to be the first international student organisation that serves as an ecumenical forum of students across boundaries of culture, race and religion.

The WSCF, founded in 1895, comprises Student Christian Movements (SCM) and student ministries in different countries across the world.

The participants brought symbols of life and peace from their countries, which they dedicated at the altar during the opening worship.

A video film depicting the struggles for life and peace of SCMs in the WSCF Asia-Pacific Region was screened before the opening Korean hymn Ososo Ososo .

One of the highlights of the worship was a Thai traditional dance of life and peace by Sawitree Shoji from the local Payap Universitys Christian Communication Institute.

Dr Ahn Jae Woong, general secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia, in his sermon told the members and senior friends of the WSCF not to loose its movement character.

If it loses its movement character, it is difficult to recover its identity as a movement, he said.

Ahn Jae Woong compared the ecumenical movement with the mustard seed (Mathew 13:31-32) which is the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows up, it is the biggest of all plants. It becomes a tree, so that birds come and make their nests in its branches.

The mustard seed is life in itself. The seed must sprout and grow up to become a tree. Similarly, the SCM should regenerate its life and work for the Federation. The SCM should grow up with vitality and make the ecumenical movement strong and dynamic, Ahn, a former staff of the WSCF Asia-Pacific Region, told the gathering.

According to him, the ecumenical movement was the smallest of all when it began. But, when it grew up as a movement, when it became a global ecumenical movement, when people got involved in the different kinds of activities and programs within, it took an entirely different image, he told them.

He said that the WSCF is a creative movement within the ecumenical community and it has provided direction and leadership for the entire ecumenical movement.

While disagreeing with those who made cynical and humiliating remarks about the WSCF that it is dead or it is not visible in the ecumenical movement, Ahn said that it was only sleeping just like the snakes do during winter.

It is only a matter of time when it will rise up again, he added.

As a faith-based social movement, he wanted the SCM to get up from its long slumber and work hard to participate in peoples struggle in the present time.

During the worship, the participants witnessed the unveiling of a large banner with messages collected from different regions of the WSCF before it was brought here at the assembly.

Among the various objectives of the WSCF is to train and nurture members to advance academically. It also aims to provide them with sound theological insights and help them become ecumenically active in the church.

Higher education, globalization, HIV/AIDS, women and gender were some of the issues, which received the attention of the weeklong general assembly, the most representative body of the WSCF.

The general assembly, organised once in four years, is a time of global fellowship to strengthen the love and faith to bind the WSCF as a prophetic community and to define policies and programs for the next quadrennium.

The last assembly was held in Beirut, Lebanon. It was after 27 years that a WSCF assembly was being organised in Asia. Colombo was the venue of an assembly held in 1977.

The assembly also provides an opportunity to worship, build friends across boundaries and share stories of hope and faith.

The delegates heard reports from Nana Brew, co-secretary of the WSCF and Chris Ledger, honorary treasurer.

The senior friends of the WSCF Asia-Pacific Region met on the second day of the assembly for sharing and discussion. They decided to enlarge the regional Financial Supporting Group from five to seven by including Singapore and Malaysia on it.

The meeting also urged the regional WSCF to continue to give high priority to the leadership formation programs.