General Assembly elects new Executive Committee and Officers for next quinquennium

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.

03 October 2023

Installation of the newly elected Executive Commttee of CCA (2023-2028) at the closing worship and Holy Eucharistic Service in the 15th General Assembly ; Jerusalem Mar Thoma Church, 3 October 2023

Kottayam, India: Three new Officers and a 17-member Executive Committee of the Christian Conference of Asia for the next quinquennium were elected unanimously on the fifth day of the 15th General Assembly.

Bishop Reuel Norman Marigza (Moderator), Dr (Ms) Anna Alisha Mathew Simon (Vice Moderator), and Rev. Chan Kwok-Keung (Treasurer) will be the three new officers. The four-member CCA Officers’ team will include the General Secretary who is currently serving a second term.

Bishop Reuel Norman Marigza from the United Church of Christ in the Philippines was a member of the Executive Committee of CCA since the Jakarta Assembly and subsequently served as the Acting Vice Moderator of CCA since December 2022. He was the immediate past General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines and also served as the General Secretary of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines for two terms. A theological educator and seasoned ecumenical leader in Asia, Bishop Marigza has been involved in the ecumenical movement in the Philippines and in Asia in various capacities during the past decades. He was actively involved in CCA Youth Programmes when he was serving as a national youth secretary of the NCC Philippines in the mid-1980s.

Dr Anna Alisha Mathew Simon has been the Women’s Secretary of the Council of Churches in Malaysia for two years. A medical doctor by profession, she has been involved with the ecumenical movement in Malaysia in different capacities.

 Rev. Chan Kwok-Keung, Dean of the St. John’s Cathedral of the Anglican Church in Hong Kong, is currently serving as the Honorary General Secretary of the Hong Kong Christian Council.

The following are the members of the new Executive Committee:

  • Ms Hannah Manickyam Cassandra Mesa, Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia
  • Rev. John Charles Gilmore, National Council of Churches in Australia
  • Rev. Jacklevyn Frits Manuputty, Communion of Churches in Indonesia
  • Rev. Dethsacda Aphayamath, Lao Evangelical Church in the Democratic People’s Republic in Laos
  • Ms Basanti Biswas, Methodist Church in India
  • Rev. David Anirudha Das, National Council of Churches in Bangladesh
  • Rev. David Nigel Perry Brohier, Church of Ceylon in Sri Lanka
  • Archbishop Dikran Sebouh Sarkissian, Armenian Orthodox Church of Iran
  • Ms Dymeas Sovy, Kampuchea Christian Council in Cambodia
  • Rev. Levi Vasconcelos Pinto, Igreja Protestante iha Timor Lorosa’e in Timor Leste
  • Rev. Prof. Dr Pradit Takerngrangsarit, Church of Christ in Thailand
  • Ms Nant Ruth Shwe Sin Nyein Aye, Myanmar Council of Churches
  • Mr Su-Hong Lim, Presbyterian Church in Taiwan
  • Ms Tiurida Hutabarat, Protestant Christian Batak Church in Indonesia
  • Dr (Ms) Youngmi Cho, Presbyterian Church in Korea
  • Rev. (Ms) Zion Chung, Korean Christian Church in Japan
  • Bishop Dr Kuriakose Mor Theophilose, Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church in India (Programme Committee Chairperson)

The new Executive Committee was officially installed during the closing worship of the 15th CCA General Assembly.

The first meeting of the Executive Committee will take place towards the end of the year during which the new Programme Committee of the CCA will be selected. 

For more photos (photo gallery) please click here: Installation of the newly elected Executive Commttee of CCA (2023-2028) at the closing worship and Holy Eucharistic Service in the 15th General Assembly ; Jerusalem Mar Thoma Church, 3 October 2023