Church and ecumenical leaders’ international summit to deliberate on emerging ecclesial and ecumenical landscapes in Asia

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).

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28 May 2026

Chiang Mai, Thailand: Church and ecumenical leaders in Asia will gather to deliberate on ecumenism in Asia in the context of emerging ecclesial and ecumenical landscapes at an international summit to be held from 31 May to 3 June 2026.

Organised by the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) as a prelude to the CCA Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2027, the consultation will be held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in conjunction with the CCA Executive and Programme Committee meetings.

Explaining the objectives of the international consultation, CCA General Secretary Dr Mathews George Chunakara said, “Ahead of CCA’s Platinum Jubilee in 2027, this international summit of church leaders will provide an opportunity to reflect on emerging trends related to the ecclesial and ecumenical landscape in Asia and to identify helpful indicators for strengthening the Asian ecumenical movement.”

Dr Chunakara noted that the consultation will address a wide range of issues pertinent to the life and witness of the Church in Asia. At the same time, the consultation will identify the growing need to envision new paradigms and models of ecumenical engagement grounded in the recognition that the vision of ecumenism cannot be separated from responding to the emerging socio-political, economic, and cultural realities of Asia and their implications in Asia’s pluralistic context.

The three-day international consultation will examine ‘Challenges to Ecclesial Unity and Mission in Unity in Asia’; ‘Synodality and Ecumenism: Ecclesial Unity for Effective Witness in Asia’; ‘Migration from Homelands and the Expansion of Diaspora Churches Beyond Borders’; ‘Challenges to Wider Ecumenism Amidst the Changing Landscape of Interreligious Relations in Asia’; and the ‘Changing Landscape of the Global Ecumenical Movement in the 21st Century: Prospects and Challenges from Ecumenical, Missional, and Confessional Family Perspectives’.

Participants in the consultation will include church and ecumenical leaders representing CCA member churches and councils, members of CCA Executive and Programme Committees, representatives of mission agencies and ecumenical partner organisations, international and regional ecumenical organisations including the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as representatives of the Asia Evangelical Alliance (AEA).