CCA extends greetings on the occasion of the commemoration of the centenary of the International Missionary Council

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 November 2021

A commemorative event in conjunction with the centenary of the International Missionary Council (IMC), which was founded in 1921, is being organised by the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) of the World Council of Churches (WCC), from 16 to 18 November 2021. 

The International Missionary Council is the historical forerunner of the WCC’s Commission on World Mission and Evangelism. 

Addressing the participants on the second day of the online event on the occasion of the WCC’s commemoration of the centenary of the IMC, the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) General Secretary, Dr Mathews George Chunakara, recollected the historical involvement of the Asian churches from the period of the World Mission Conference–1910, and throughout the period of the entire process of the formation of the IMC in 1921. 

“This is also an occasion for the Asian churches to recollect their historical involvement through the participation of Asian church leaders who were part of the entire process of the formation of the International Missionary Council from the very beginning of the IMC,” noted the CCA General Secretary.

“When the IMC joined the international federation of the National Christian Councils in those days, there were several such national church and missionary councils in Asia that became part of the IMC from the very beginning. Those Asian national ecumenical bodies became the natural partners and members of IMC from Asia. In other words, when the first organisational embodiment of the ecumenical spirit in the Churches themselves was formed, Asian churches were in the forefront of such a global ecumenical movement,” added the CCA General Secretary in his message. 

Linking the historical connection between CCA’s forerunner EACC and the IMC, Dr Mathews George Chunakara further acknowledged and elaborated upon the strong connections that existed between two bodies: “On the occasion of the commemoration of the centenary of the IMC, I gratefully acknowledge the role played by the IMC in the founding of the CCA. The forerunner of CCA, the East Asia Christian Conference (EACC), was formed at the Asian Church Leaders’ Conference, which was convened by the IMC and the WCC in 1957 and held in Prapat in Indonesia.”

The IMC was merged with the World Council of Churches at the 1961 New Delhi Assembly of WCC, and the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism was then formed as a special unit. It is currently headed by Finnish theologian and missiologist, The Rev. Dr Risto Jukko. 

The full text of the CCA General Secretary’s Address can be found below: