Letter from CCA

(“A Letter from CCA” is a sharing message of the CCA General Secretary to update member churches and ecumenical friends about the life and works of CCA. It is electronically published every Wednesday.)

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ!

Given the significance of theological education in the global ecumenical movement, CCA's Faith Mission and Unity (FMU) program area has been part of several initiatives. Recently, FMU Joint Executive Secretary Dr Hope Antone participated in the meetings of the WCC Education and Ecumenical Formation Executive and the Ecumenical Theological Education Program as consultant for ETE in Asia. The meetings were held from 12-16 July 2008 at Bossey Ecumenical Institute in Switzerland.

Part of the meeting was to review and approve proposals for ETE projects in the region. "There is always a big demand from the regions for help in their theological education -- including for faculty development, library development, and ecumenical formation. But ETE guidelines help us to prioritize where the need is greater. Given the existence of strong associations of theological education in Asia and Latin America, Africa 
will be prioritized in the coming years," Hope shared.

One of the reminders shared at the meeting was for staff "to do less and do better" and ETE seems to have so many programs and activities. Hope opined that "we need to go beyond thinking that the ecumenical movement is the global or regional offices or desks. The work of the ecumenical movement is what we all do together -- including in the regions and through our constituency. There is a lot being done because the different parts are working together."

At the meeting Hope was able to affirm CCA's commitment in promoting Ecumenical Theological Education in the Asian region and share the vision of what Ecumenical Formation and Ecumenical Education should be in the midst of the challenges and realities in Asia today.

WCC Youth Internship

The information about WCC Youth Internship Program has been shared with CCA. World Council of Churches will be selecting five young adults aged between18-30 years, to work in different program areas of WCC from February 2009 to January 2010. The internship provides an opportunity for ecumenical learning and work experience in an international and ecumenical setting. This opportunity is designed for young people who are actively involved in the church and are interested in ecumenism. The deadline for the application
is 15 September 2008 and detailed information is available at www.ecumenicalyouth.org. 

CCA Assembly Logo

As we are moving towards the CCA 13th General Assembly 2010 in Malaysia, we invite Christian artists, song writers, and musicians from CCA member churches and councils to design the Assembly logo, Assembly poster and compose a song on Assembly theme "Called to Prophesy, Reconcile and Heal".

Amidst socio-economic, political and natural crises today, God call the Church to prophesy, reconcile and be a healing community. CCA Assembly theme reminds Asian churches about the life and work of our Lord Jesus Christ who broke all barriers and walls of hostility. We therefore invite and encourage artists in churches to present an artistic view of the theme in the forms of a logo, poster and a theme song for CCA Assembly.

Closing date of the competition is 26 October 2008. The winner of each category will be awarded an honorarium of 300.00 US dollars. For further information and sending your entries and submission contact:

General Secretariat
Christian Conference of Asia
C/O: Payap University, Muang, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Tel: (66) 53-243-906/7
E-mail: ccagensec@cca.org.hk

Prawate Khid-arn
General Secretary

No. 30/23 July 2008