The Christian Conference of Asia is a regional ecumenical organisation representing 15 National Councils and over 100 denominations (churches) in New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, East Timor, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand.
These councils and churches are committed to working together in mission, leadership development, ecumenical relationships, and issues of social justice such as human rights, peace and reconciliation, poverty alleviation, and interfaith dialogue.[1]
The offices of the Christian Conference of Asia have been located in Payap University, Chiang Mai, Thailand;[2] since 2006.[3] In 2023, the General Secretary (since 2015) is Dr Mathews George Chunakara.[4]
History
Representatives of churches, national council of churches, and Christian councils decided to constitute the East Asian Christian Conference during a meeting at Prapat, Indonesia in 1957. It was inaugurated at an assembly in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1957 under the theme Witnessing Together. The fifth Assembly in 1973, meeting in Singapore, decided to change the name to Christian Conference of Asia (CCA).[5] It established its regional offices in Singapore at Toa Payoh Methodist Church in 1974.[6]
The organisation operated from Singapore until its expulsion from the country in 1987,[7][8] when the Singapore government charged that it was engaging in political activities and had broken a promise of not doing so.[9] The organisation's assets were frozen and eventually returned in 1988.[10] Member churches and council in Singapore, the Methodist Church of Singapore, the Anglican Church of Singapore and Singapore's National Council of Church withdrew from the organisation,[11][12][13] leaving it with no official representations from Singapore since. The organisation replied to the charges that there was a 'basic misunderstanding of the role of the Church in society and the way which church and state relate to each other'.[14]
The CCA and the Catholic-run Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences worked together to found the Asian Movement for Christian Unity in 1994;[15][16] the Evangelical Fellowship of Asia joined the movement in 2007.
In October 2017, the organisation celebrated its 60th anniversary with an event in Yangon.[17]
