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Christian Conference of Asia
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Program Clusters: Special Programs:
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Strategic Workshop & Seminar on Ecumenism of the Youth Committee of the Bangladesh National Council of Churches, 4th-9th March, Cox�s Bazar, Bangladesh:
Representatives from NCCB Youth met March 5th through 8th 2004, at Cox�s Bazaar Bangladesh to attend a workshop outlining future plans and implementation. The meeting included the presence of Mr. Subodh Adhikari, General Secretary of NCCB, who spent his time with the youth and joined their strategic deliberations. His contribution to the workshop and time devoted to the youth activities was encouraging. The CCA youth staff provided inputs for the workshop. The meeting achieved its objective: to prepare an action plan for the next two years based on the needs of the youth, ensuring that the programs are owned by the youth in Bangladesh. The meetings and the workshop resulted in the NCCB Youth Action Plan 2004-2005. The Workshop had two distinct events: a seminar and a workshop devoted to the formation of an action plan and its preparation. General Secretary Mr. Subodh Adhikari, Dr. James Tejosh Das, Mr. Rakesh Peter Dass, and Youth Moderator Mr. Proloy Samaddar conducted the seminar. Topics addressed were: the ability to identify issues directly concerning today�s Asian Youth, Interfaith Relations, Youth Empowerment, and a history of the Ecumenical movement. Small group activities worked on the action planning. This was conducted with a SWOT analysis of the youth movement of NCCB in the past two years, since its resurgence in 2002. The CCA staff started off the seminar portion of the meeting with an outline of contextual national-workshop guidelines and identifying local issues; an important point made was that through the 40 members present 1000�s others should be, and would be, influenced by the outcome. The importance of religious tolerance and economic injustices leading to disparity in wealth in developing Asian countries was highlighted during the session. It was also mentioned that the spirituality of the Churches should contain flexibility as opposed to deconstruction to overcome today�s challenges. Mr. Proloy Samaddar provided a historical perspective of the ecumenical movement spanning the past century. His emphasis was on the last 20 years in which many of the leaders have made significant contributions, some of which were the uniting of the Churches and youth together. Also noted, from a more national context, was a challenge where the Evangelist church�s heavily funded presence is overwhelming other Christian efforts. Mr. Subodh Adhikari spoke on �Discipleship�, and stressed the decreasing Christian population in Bangladesh over the past 20 years. He also mentioned a decrease in literacy rate and a 60 / 40 split in population between Catholics and other Christian Groups. His composure during an unfortunate disruption, because of the arrival of a college tour at the venue, was appreciated by the participants as �a sign as to his leadership in a Christian context. He exhibited the same sort of patience that we learn to achieve through the church.� according to the report of the program prepared by the youth committee of NCCB. Dr. Tejosh Dass described the geographical spread of Christianity and other religions throughout the Indian Subcontinent. He also focused on inter-religious tensions and the understanding of how it has evolved as a smart way to understand how we may change it. The following day and a half was devoted to developing an action plan for implementation by and for the youth for 2004-2005. Here the tempo clearly picked up. Guidelines were to devote attention to one or two current issues only. We followed a format geared toward solutions for issues with realistic National and local consequences. Four separate breakout groups generated much overlap with their individual outcomes. The deliberations came up with many issues, but three were adopted for action in 2004-05. These were: education, inter-faith relations, and a focus on issues of peace and justice. posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 30, 2004 25th General Assembly of the National Council of Churches in India, 7th-13th February, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India: The CCA Youth Secretary attended the 25th General Assembly of the NCC India as a Fraternal Delegate representing CCA. A brief greetings was presented to the Assembly on behalf of CCA. Among other agenda, the Assembly discussed: 1. The life and ministry of the NCCI is the previous years since the last Assembly in Ranchi; 2. Reports of the President, the General Secretary, and the Treasurer were discussed and received with appreciation; 3. A new group of Officers [which included a President, three Vice-Presidents, and the Treasurer], and the Executive Committee for the term of this Assembly were elected. 4. Reports of the eight pre-Assembly Forums were received. [Women, North-East India Concerns, Dalit and Adivasi Concerns, Stewards Program, Youth, Interfaith Group, HIV/AIDS, and Life of the Church]. Noticeably, the Life of the Church Forum focussed on Corruption in the Church and Society, a topic which is not so openly discussed in forums like GAs of NCCI. 5. The Assembly re-iterated its committed to keeping the Dalit agenda at the center of its mission and life. Importantly, the NCCI was re-structured from its present organization in Units and Desks into five Commissions. They were outlined as follows: 1. Commission on Mission, Ecumenism and Unity. 2. Commission on Transformation of Society [Youth, Women, URM]. 3. Commission on Polity and National Governance. 4. Commission of Life: Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation. 5. Commission on Dalits, Indigenous People and Tribals. New commissioners were elected. Outlining the various successes and failures, happy and challenging moments during the past five years, Rev. Dr. Ipe Joseph, the General Secretary of NCCI in his Report to the Assembly writes, �We are proud to be citizens of this great nation. Through the Council God has given us an opportunity to lead God�s people and stand up boldly for gospel values. Now is the time to strengthen our prophetic engagement and build a counter culture, a culture of truth and peace. Let us together dedicate ourselves for this purpose�.� This Assembly also marked 90 years of NCCI existence and was an occasion to celebrate this. The Assembly was hosted by the Tirunelveli Diocese of the Church of South India. posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 30, 2004 Symposium on Ecumenism in the 21st Century organized by the Hong Kong Christian Council, 15-17th January, Hong Kong: The Youth Secretary attended the above mentioned symposium along with other colleagues from CCA. The symposium featured prominent speakers, including Dr. Konrad Raiser, former GS of WCC, Dr. Philip Wickeri of SFTS, Dr. C. S. Song of GTU, and Dr. Ahn Jae Woong, GS, CCA, among many other distinguished panelists. It was a time to reflect on the role of the ecumenical movement globally, regionally in Asia, and in Hong Kong. The following issues emerged: 1. The need for the Christian and church mission to be focussed on the people. As the ecumenical movement is of the churches, this understanding of mission should apply to the ecumenical movement too. 2. The need for the ecumenical movement to be consolidated in its response, which required a reconfiguration of the ecumenical movement. Unity and coordination was stressed over conformity or uniformity. 3. The role that the churches and the ecumenical movement have played in Hong Kong was appreciated and encouraged. 4. The need for there to be �ecumenical formation� of the present generation of church leaders. This was also expressed in terms of the ecumenical movement to articulate its mission and vision in clear language and one that speaks the language of the churches in a more direct way. 5. It was noted with concern that there was an urgent need to focus on the ecumenical formation among the youth in churches, if the movement is to survive and pass on to healthy leadership. posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 30, 2004 Ecumenical Asia Pacific Students and Youth Network (EASY Net) Second National Coordinators� Meeting and Core Team Meeting, 6-14th January 2004, Bangkok, Thailand: 1.1. Second National Coordinators� Meeting 6-11th January: Hosted by the IYCS member in Thailand [YCS Thailand], the 2nd National Coordinator�s Training Workshop of Ecumenical Asia - Pacific Students and Youth Network (EASY Net) was successfully held from January 6-12, 2004 at the We Train Center in Bangkok, Thailand. It was a time of mutual sharing and reflection on the progress achieved and the challenges faced in the work of the networking among the youth and student organizations at the local and national levels. It was also a time to reflect on the relations between the regional network of EASY Net and her national partners. Meeting in times of un-peace and war, the meeting took this time together to reflect on the situations of conflicts in the world and in Asia and reflect on the role that young Christians and the EASY Net can play in addressing such issues. The meeting also took the opportunity to spend time in discussing and planning, in broad terms, the theme or issue/s which the ASYG 2004 should address. A basic outline with the theme was finalized by the National Coordinators, which was then picked up by the Core Team [CT] in its deliberations after the meeting concluded. National Coordinators and representatives from National Ecumenical Teams from Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Korea and Taiwan participated in the training, while Core Team members of EASY Net served as facilitators. The meeting was organized as a training and consisted of the following four components: 1. The National Ecumenical Team Reports; 2. A Workshop on Networking and Ecumenism; 3. Input and Discussions on Peace by Mr. Francis Lee; and 4. Initial Planning for the Asia-Pacific Student and Youth Gathering ASYG) 2004. As mentioned earlier, the training also served as a preparatory meeting for ASYG 2004. The National Coordinators identified key issues and activity components for ASYG, which served as the basis of the EASY Net Core team in its planning for ASYG. The theme identified by this planning session was �Together in Action for Peace and Reconciliation�. During the meeting a farewell dinner was organized in honor of Mr. Masao Koide, who completed his two-year stint with EASY Net as the Regional Coordinator. Following interviews of short-listed candidates by the CT, Ms. Glenda Rocas was appointed on an one-year renewable term as the next Regional Coordinator of EASY Net, effective from January 2004. She was welcomed during the meeting and introduced to the National Coordinators. 1.2. Annual Core Team Meeting, 12-13th January: Immediately following the NCs� Meeting, EASY Net�s CT had its annual meeting. Among other matters, the following issues were addressed, discussed, and decided upon: 1. Interview of short-listed candidates and appointment of new EASY Net Regional Coordinator; 2. Budget for ASYG 2004 and budget for EASY Net for 2004; 3. Planning for ASYG 2004 and charting a time-framed plan. The ASYG was scheduled for December 2004; 4. Evaluation of the Second NCs� Meeting and EASY Net�s progress in the past two years. 5. It was decided that EASY Net will organize its 3rd Creative Writing Workshop on April 22-29 2004. It will be hosted by the Taiwan Ecumenical Student and Youth Network. The Workshop would come up with fresh and new reflective liturgies, worship guides, songs, poems, and other visual arts for the Asia-Pacific Students and Youth Week Resource Book for 2004. In addition, the Workshop will strategize to put together an ASYG Working Book, to facilitate national movement work leading to the ASYG. The workshop will be followed by a 2-day Asia-Pacific Students and Youth (ASYG) Working Group Meeting. 6. EASY Net Office location: IYCS Asia, based in Manila, would host the office in 2004. 7. New representatives of EASY Net member organizations were introduced and welcomed into the Core Team. The CT expressed its gratitude to outgoing RC, Mr. Masao Koide, for his tireless service to EASY Net. It also welcomed Ms. Glenda Rocas, the incoming RC. posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 30, 2004 |
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