Meeting of General Secretaries of National Councils in Asia
General Secretaries representing various National Councils in Asia were invited by the CCA and the WCC to attend a meeting in Phnom Penh from May 7-10, hosted locally by the Cambodian Council of Churches.
The General Secretaries were joined by key Asian church leaders to reflect on a theme that is of current concern to churches in the Asian region; “Towards a Revitalised Ecumenical Movement in Asia ”.
The report of the four day meeting described the worsening ecumenical situation in Asia due to the “fragmentation of the body of Christ” manifesting itself in the growing denominationalism, the proliferation of organizations and structures that impede cooperation among churches, and the missionary expansionism that breeds rivalry and competition among various church group and agencies.
Therefore, the report called for the strengthening of the Asian ecumenical movement of the 21st century, inviting all National Councils to exercise self-reflection by asking the question: “Have we been responsible stewards of the task that God has entrusted to us?”
Reviewing the on-going work of the various National Councils in Asia, the report affirmed that ecumenism still remains a priority and “the churches have not been silent”, in speaking boldly and acting prophetically together, to hold respective governments accountable for the injustices that affect so many people in Asia.
In terms of future tasks; the report made the following recommendations that could be acted on by each National Council, and in cooperation with the CCA and the WCC:
 | An assessment on the ‘state of ecumenism’ in Asian countries by each National Council, in co-operation with the member Churches; |
| Development and promotion of Asian ecumenical spirituality and theology, ,to be shared at the local, regional and global level; |
| Working towards ensuring good governance at all levels of our engagement in Asia is the responsibility of all national councils and member churches; |
| Advocating for religious freedom within the national context, and responding to religious intolerance in specific country situations, is a priority concern in the increasingly polarised social and religious contexts in Asia ; |
| International solidarity in the face of the varied social, economic, and political obstacles experienced across Asia must be expressed by the ecumenical family. Several issues identified help network among countries experiencing similar circumstances. Specific issues, such as increasing armed conflicts, religious intolerance, militarisation, HIV/AIDS, human rights violations, human trafficking, the situation of migrants’ refugees and internally displaced people, were identified as priority areas of concerns for the Asian ecumenical movement’s involvement. In order to enhance networking among countries that experience similar problems appropriate sub-regional responses to be developed to address the issues effectively. CCA and WCC need to ensure better ecumenical coordination in these areas of work in Asia ; |
| In order to develop and enhance capacities of the various national councils, ecumenical leadership formation should be further developed with specific attention given to the young and emerging churches and National Councils in countries including Cambodia, Nepal, Bhutan, East Timor, Vietnam, Laos, and Mongolia. Special attention and focus should be given to educating young churches, with a curriculum designed to impart a deeply rooted biblical understanding of ‘ecumenism’; |
| Developing dialogue both with other faiths and with other Christian groups must be addressed by all national councils in order to ensure good relations with neighbouring faith communities and also among various Christian churches. Common ground and creative mechanisms need to be found for improving and sustaining our relations with various confessional and ecclesiastical bodies, especially the Roman Catholic Church, Evangelicals and Pentecostals. Appropriate pluralistic responses also need to be developed at the local levels; |
| Ecumenical formation and capacity building training for youth should be considered as a priority in all Asian countries in the coming years. These training and other capacity building initiatives should include a focus on language and better communication skills, as well as ecumenical content that seeks to ground youth in a deeper understanding of the ecumenical context; |
| Systematic efforts need to be developed to pool together financial resources within Asian churches and NCCs to extend support to financially weaker churches and national ecumenical bodies which will help them to be less dependent on funding agencies. |
When the General Secretary of CCM, Rev. Dr. Hermen Shastri was approached to comment on the meeting, he said that, “It was timely and it became obvious to me that a new generation of church leaders need to be exposed to ecumenism for them to get on aboard and act multilaterally on issues affecting people in Asia . Therefore, attention needs to be paid to ecumenical leadership”. He went on further to say, “CCM can contribute much to the Asian ecumenical movement as it has done in the past.”
