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The National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) and member churches of the CCA in Korea attended the 14th Assembly of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) sending 15 delegates and 25 observers. The Assembly took place from May 18th through the 27th in Jakarta, Indonesia and also included a women’s and youth conference.
Eight different group meetings were organized under the assembly’s theme: “Living together in the household of God.” The eight groups included Evangelism and Witness in Multi-Religious Asia; Training in Ecumenical Theology; Establishing Justice and Peace to Overcome Conflict; Reinforcement of Diakonia and Ecumenism; Possibilities for Sustainable Finance and Organizational Management; etc. They debated 12 topics in total and through earnest discussion they sought a vision for addressing the problems of the Asian ecumenical movement.
At the opening worship, they used the “2015 Easter Joint Prayer for South and North (North and South) Korea” so that the Asian Church together through prayer to lift their desire for peace and reunification on the Korean peninsula. Significantly, the assembly adopted a statement submitted by the NCCK and NCCJ (National Council of Churches in Japan) which expresses concern and opposition toward the Abe administration’s attempt to reinterpret the pacifist Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, the conclusion of the April 29th Japan-US Guidelines for Defense Cooperation, the conclusion of the US-Philippines Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement last April, the Terminal High-Altitude Aerial Defense arrangement on the Korean peninsula and the naval base being constructed on Jeju Island. Moreover, they adopted statements on the surge of human trafficking in Asia, the issue of forced migration of workers, youth and women, and the issue of child abuse; and for all this the Asia Church prayed and appealed for solidarity.
The CCA Assembly elected two Korean representatives to offices within the assembly where they will serve for the next five years with the ecumenical visioning and general program cardinal directors. Also other new leaders were elected. On May 21st the provisional assembly passed the election of the following: William T.P. Simarmata (Idonesia) as Assembly Moderator and Mathews George Chunakara as General Secretary, among others. From Korea, Kim, JongGu of Korea Methodist Church was elected to the executive committee and Kim, Kyrie of Anglican Church of Korea was elected as chair of the program committee.
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