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Christian Conference of Asia
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Ecumenical Peace Network for Northeast AsiaNortheast Asian churches urged to initiate Ecumenical Peace Network SEOUL, Korea � CCA General Secretary Dr Ahn Jae Woong has urged the churches in Northeast Asia to initiate an Ecumenical Peace Network (EPN) to streamline and strengthen the already existing peace building efforts by them. Addressing a meeting here of the WCC member churches and national councils in Northeast Asia, Ahn Jae Woong said that the EPN �should be set up out of hope and with a forward-looking vision so that it could provide ecumenical space for building peace in the Northeast Asia.� Ahn expressed the view that the nations of Northeast Asia are getting ready to stand up and be noticed. �Nations with fiercely nationalistic histories are getting tired of being directed, or worse yet, dictated by the United States.� They are becoming part of the new power blocs to balance the US global domination, he said. Quoting from WCC General Secretary Samuel Kobia�s book, The Courage to Hope, that �When people act out of hope, they become forward-looking; they are liberated from captivity to the past and fear of a tomorrow that is no better than yesterday,� he said that promoting Korean unification and related issues in the region could be an important agenda for the EPN. The EPN, according to him, could handle the following: Information sharing or e-networking Exchange of personnel and experts Resource sharing, peace education and peace building programs Occasional meeting/workshops Advocacy work and lobbying Joint action and solidarity networking Strengthening ecumenical fellowship for peace building Ahn told the 20-21 August church representatives meeting, organised prior to the WCC executive committee meeting, that initiating the EPN is part of helping lessen �one another�s burden� which is an �important ecumenical virtue and priority.� Burdens of people in the WCC member countries are increasing, Ahn, a member of the Presbyterian Church in Korea, noted. �Help carry one another�s burdens is a high moral of the ecumenical movement,� he said and added that �it is something to do with the sharing and solidarity in our ecumenical movement in our time.� posted by Anonymous on Thursday, August 26, 2004 WSCF general assembly
CCA General Secretary Dr Ahn Jae Woong delivering the sermon at the opening worship of the WSCF assembly in Chiang Mai 
WSCF senior friends meeting:From right, Ken Guest, (USA) newly elected chair of the WSCF, Ahn Jae Woong (Hong Kong),Marshal Fernando (Sri Lanka), Philip Mathew (Hong Kong), Taku Kumakiri (Japan) and Glenda Rocas (Philippines) 
Senior friends of the WSCF: From left, Yong Ting Jin (Malaysia) Shin Seung Min, Regional Secretary, (WSCF-AP Region), Michael Wallace, (New Zealand) newly elected Co-General Secretary of the WSCF, Georgia Yam (Australia) and Stephen Hsu (Taiwan) Don�t lose the movement character, ecumenical leader tells WSCF CHIANG MAI, Thailand � As a local choir rendered the Thai traditional hymns, some 175 students, youth and senior friends from across the globe walked into a hall here on 7 August to attend a worship marking the formal opening of the general assembly of the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF). The 33rd general assembly on the theme �Talitha Cum! Arise to life in abundance!� (Mark 5:41) gathered participants from Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, North America and Asia-Pacific regions of the WSCF, considered to be the first international student organisation that serves as an ecumenical forum of students across boundaries of culture, race and religion. The WSCF, founded in 1895, comprises Student Christian Movements (SCM) and student ministries in different countries across the world. The participants brought symbols of life and peace from their countries, which they dedicated at the altar during the opening worship. A video film depicting the struggles for life and peace of SCMs in the WSCF Asia-Pacific Region was screened before the opening Korean hymn Ososo Ososo . One of the highlights of the worship was a Thai traditional dance of life and peace by Sawitree Shoji from the local Payap University�s Christian Communication Institute. Dr Ahn Jae Woong, general secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia, in his sermon told the members and senior friends of the WSCF not to loose its movement character. �If it loses its movement character, it is difficult to recover its identity as a movement,� he said. Ahn Jae Woong compared the ecumenical movement with the mustard seed (Mathew 13:31-32) which is the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows up, it is the biggest of all plants. It becomes a tree, so that birds come and make their nests in its branches. �The mustard seed is life in itself. The seed must sprout and grow up to become a tree. Similarly, the SCM should regenerate its life and work for the Federation. The SCM should grow up with vitality and make the ecumenical movement strong and dynamic,� Ahn, a former staff of the WSCF Asia-Pacific Region, told the gathering. According to him, the ecumenical movement was the smallest of all when it began. But, when it grew up as a movement, when it became a global ecumenical movement, when people got involved in the different kinds of activities and programs within, it took an entirely different image, he told them. He said that the WSCF is a creative movement within the ecumenical community and it has provided direction and leadership for the entire ecumenical movement. While disagreeing with those who made cynical and humiliating remarks about the WSCF that it is dead or it is not visible in the ecumenical movement, Ahn said that it was only sleeping just like the snakes do during winter. �It is only a matter of time when it will rise up again,� he added. As a faith-based social movement, he wanted the SCM to get up from its long slumber and work hard to participate in people�s struggle in the present time. During the worship, the participants witnessed the unveiling of a large banner with messages collected from different regions of the WSCF before it was brought here at the assembly. Among the various objectives of the WSCF is to train and nurture members to advance academically. It also aims to provide them with sound theological insights and help them become ecumenically active in the church. Higher education, globalization, HIV/AIDS, women and gender were some of the issues, which received the attention of the weeklong general assembly, the most representative body of the WSCF. The general assembly, organised once in four years, is a time of global fellowship to strengthen the love and faith to bind the WSCF as a prophetic community and to define policies and programs for the next quadrennium. The last assembly was held in Beirut, Lebanon. It was after 27 years that a WSCF assembly was being organised in Asia. Colombo was the venue of an assembly held in 1977. The assembly also provides an opportunity to worship, build friends across boundaries and share stories of hope and faith. The delegates heard reports from Nana Brew, co-secretary of the WSCF and Chris Ledger, honorary treasurer. The senior friends of the WSCF Asia-Pacific Region met on the second day of the assembly for sharing and discussion. They decided to enlarge the regional Financial Supporting Group from five to seven by including Singapore and Malaysia on it. The meeting also urged the regional WSCF to continue to give high priority to the leadership formation programs. posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 CCA's Asian Ecumenical Acadmey begins in Chiang Mai
CCA General Secretary Dr Ahn Jae Woong speaking to the AEA participants in Chiang Mai 
Dr Preman Niles, well-known theologian and dean of the AEA facilitating the program 
Participants at the AEA 
A section of the participants 
Corazon Tabing-Reyes, CCA joint executive secretary and coordinator of the AEA speaking to the participants (Photos:Philip Mathew) CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- The Asian Ecumenical Academy (AEA), organised by the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) began here on 9 August. The three-week �mobile ecumenical formation and leadership development program� of the CCA is attended by 21 participants from Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines and Sri Lanka. They heard a presentation on �Ecumenism in Asia� by the CCA General Secretary Dr Ahn Jae Woong, on 1o August, which was followed by discussions. Among the resource persons are the well known theologians Dr Preman Niles, who is also the dean of the AEA, Jesuit Father Tom Michel, Dr Kim Yong Bock and Researcher Dr Patricia Martinez. Ms Cora Tabing Reyes, joint executive secretary of the CCA is the coordinator of the program. One of the highlights of the program is the exposure visits organised against the backdrop of the Thai social situation. Worship, study, discussion, sharing and writing are some of the main components of the program, which will conclude on 28 August. The AEA aims to strengthen the ecumenical leadership of church and ecumenical organisations through improving their ability to rethink together the ecumenical tasks in the face of current and emerging issues relevant to the church and society in Asia. Enhancing the participants' awareness and commitment to the ecumenical movement and identifying challenges to the mission of the church in dealing with the issues of globalisation and many faiths and cultures in Asia are some of the objectives of the Academy. posted by Anonymous on Thursday, August 12, 2004 CCA General Secretary Ahn Jae Woong delivered the 11th M A Thomas memorial lecture at the Ecumenical Christian Centre in Bangalore, India
Dr Ahn Jae Woong delivering the M A Thomas memorial lecture on "Building a culture of peace in Asia today" at the Ecumenical Christian Centre in Bangalore on 31 July 
Audience at the M A Thomas memorial lecture 
Ahn Jae Woong with the Director of Ecumenical Christian Centre, Rev Dr M J Joseph Peace building is �God�s ordained ecumenical task,� says Asian ecumenical leader BANGALORE, India � Peace studies and conflict transformation should become the basis for people to live in peace, free from fear and all obstacles, said the CCA General Secretary Dr Ahn Jae Woong. Delivering the 11th M A Thomas memorial lecture here on 31 July, Ahn Jae Woong noted that �peace making or peace building is God�s ordained ecumenical task.� Major religions of the world and faith-based communities teach about peace and involve in peace-building efforts, he said and added that �profound words like Shanti, Salam and Shalom should not only be chanted but also practiced in our family, work places, every communities and in our day-to-day lives.� The CCA general secretary suggested militarization, institutionalization of violence, conflict analysis, war, non-violent struggles, structures of domination and human rights as some of the possible areas for peace studies. One can become a peace builder by building peace movements and strengthening peace networks in the society and in the community, he told a gathering of ecumenical leaders, bishops, pastors, intellectuals and social activists. Peace forums, peace campaigns, peace camps, peace concerts, peace film festival, peace trips and peace pilgrimages were among a list he recommended as possible ways of promoting peace in the community. In his lecture on �Building a culture of peace in Asia today,� Ahn suggested exchange of people and experts as a way for stimulating and building a culture of peace. �Exposure to places like Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan and killing fields of Cambodia and wherever cruelty of humanity has taken place has the potential to make people committed to be peace lovers, peace makers, peace builders and peace keepers,� he told the gathering. Meeting together and encouraging one another to overcome the weaknesses and the tendency to remain a silent majority was suggested as another way of building a culture of peace in the society. �As long as we remain a silent majority, justpeace will never stay with us,� he added. The CCA leader gave a definition of culture as �the total of the passed on ideas, beliefs, values and knowledge, which constitute the basis for social action.� He categorised culture as high reflected in arts, literature and philosophy and low as popular culture or working people�s culture. A culture of peace, according to him means that high and low cultures are closely intertwined in every level in building and keeping peace in our daily life. Ahn Jae Woong told the gathering that traditional or dominant cultures are challenged by counter-cultures for the betterment of people�s life. According to him, the tension between traditional cultures and counter-cultures may be able to provide a new synthesis � a new culture. The new synthesis or the new culture could be the culture of peace, he remarked. Ahn expressed the view that �moral values of freedom and accountability of the western society and the community solidarity and social order of the eastern society may be a good solid ground for building a culture of peace in our time.� �A stage of synthesis, a culture of peace, should be an ideal, based on the east and west as well as global value system of people�s aspiration for good life.� Referring to the current Asian situation, Ahn Jae Woong noted that �Asia will merge as one of the global powers in the 21st century.� Quoting the former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating as saying that �while the 20th century was the century of the Americans, the chances are that the 21st century will be the century of Asia, and we will see for the first time an eclipse of the American economic power,� Ahn noted that the six-party talks to resolve the nuclear issues in North Korea could be a possible framework of global hegemonic power in the future. ��the US is worried about her role as sole global power and domination, whereas, European Union is shaping its power and Asia is consolidating their potential power at the moment,� he said. Making a reference to the people in Asia who like people anywhere in the world aspire for a good and quality life, the general secretary said that, �Good life is possible only if every human being have their day-to-day life based on well being,� and �when basic livelihood, good health, good social relations, security and freedom are guaranteed.� M A Thomas memorial lectures are organized annually by the Ecumenical Christian Centre (ECC) to honour its founder-director Rev Dr M A Thomas, who was a well known ecumenical leader and a Mar Thoma priest. The ECC, situated in Whitefield, a suburb of the south Indian city of Bangalore, is one of the best run ecumenical centres in India. It is a member of the Association of Christian Institute for Social Concern in Asia and has hosted several national and international ecumenical events. posted by Anonymous on Thursday, August 05, 2004 |
