Looking back on your tenure, what accomplishment are you most proud of, and why do you believe it will have a lasting impact on the churches and communities served by CCA? Dr Chunakara: I have been trying to introduce several new initiatives in different programmatic areas where ecumenical responses are warranted in Asia’s emerging contexts. As a former staff member of CCA in the 1990s, I realised after returning to Asia that CCA needed to reimagine and re-envision its activities in a more contextual and relevant way, rather than repeating its outdated programme priorities. With such understanding, I initiated a programme restructuring, and the new programme priorities I introduced and implemented were identified based on responses and feedback I collected from CCA member constituencies. It is with great satisfaction that I leave this position at CCA after serving two terms as its general secretary. In many ways, I was able to contribute to, introduce, or facilitate several new initiatives, such as: Ecumenical Women’s Action Against Violence for addressing a most serious social menace in Asia, to equip the young people in peace-building efforts, and Young Ambassadors for Peace; Asian Ecumenical Institute; Ecumenical Network of Persons with Disabilities Advocacy; a regional advocacy action programme to combat HIV/AIDS; an Ecumenical Enablers’ Training in Asia; and the Ecumenical Diakonia Network in Asia. In a deteriorating trend of violation of freedom of religion and rights of religious minorities in Asia, an interfaith advocacy network has been developed in collaboration with other faith leaders. In a context where human rights violations are rampant in several Asian countries, CCA introduced a programme to enhance the capacities of young pastors and church workers in human rights advocacy through a weeklong training focused on the Biblical and theological bases of human rights and human dignity. A special training programme, the Human Rights Institute, was launched in 2022 and runs annually. Given the growing need for research into the impact of technological advancement on Christian mission, an international study programme on "Post-Humanism and Artificial Intelligence” was introduced. Three major ecumenical youth gatherings—Asian Ecumenical Youth Assembly in 2018, 2023, and 2026, and two major Asian ecumenical women gatherings—Asian Ecumenical Women’s Assembly in 2019 and 2025 were organised to facilitate the coming together of Asian youth and women. Another major event was the Asia Mission Conference, held in Yangon, Myanmar, in 2017. CCA organised an Asia Mission Conference after a 23-year gap, the last having been held in 1994. The Diamond Jubilee Celebration of CCA was also organised in 2017 in Yangon, with more than 10,000 people participating in a thanksgiving service and celebration. Notable among the other initiatives introduced and implemented were consensus decision-making, governance policies, the code of conduct, staff rules and regulations, and environmental policy, as well as the criteria and rules for admitting new member churches and councils in CCA. During the past ten years, CCA has published numerous publications and major consultation reports and resources were published as books, booklets, and study materials. What were the most significant challenges facing the churches in Asia during your time as general secretary, and how did the Christian Conference of Asia respond to them? Dr Chunakara: The identity, existence, and integrity of Christian communities in Asia are at stake amid complex problems in the emerging socioeconomic, geopolitical, and cultural contexts. Churches in Asia face a range of impacts on their mission and witness. Violation of the rights of Christian minorities, especially persecution, constant attacks against Christians, churches and Christian institutions and marginalisation of Christians, leaving many local Christian communities vulnerable and isolated. It is also notable that churches continue to grow in many Asian countries, even in places that are hostile to the gospel. Asian churches and the faithful also face protracted challenges in terms of the growth of fundamentalist political ideologies, growing religious fundamentalism and extremism, including within churches themselves. The politicisation of religion and the religionisation of politics have become hallmarks of Asian social reality. The lack of integrity in leadership and increasing corruption among church leaders have become serious concerns. An ageing population, demographic changes, and the migration of young people within Asia and beyond are among the most serious challenges the churches and Christians face in Asia today. Other critical issues include poverty, migration, forced displacement due to militarisation, increasing arms race, human rights violations, threats to peace and security, urbanisation, ecological and environmental crises, natural disasters, humanitarian crisis, plights of the increasing number of refugees, and stateless people in Asia. During my tenure as the general secretary, the CCA responded to most of these problems as part of its prophetic witness by organising advocacy initiatives at national, regional, and global levels, including at the UN and in multilateral fora. CCA accompanied churches in vulnerable situations and expressed solidarity with them in manifold ways. CCA’s advocacy engagement as part of its ecumenical accompaniment and solidarity during the past ten years includes specific issues and key areas such as stateless people in Asia, especially the Rohingyas from Myanmar stranded in different parts of Asia, emerging geopolitical trends of border and maritime disputes, external interventions, militarisation and human rights violations. Over the past ten years, several pastoral solidarity visits to conflict-affected situations in countries such as West Papua, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka have been organised. CCA’s advocacy involvement at the international levels also expanded to the UN in Geneva, New York, and Vienna. CCA organised side events during the Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva and at the UN CSW in New York. As part of international peace advocacy by faith-based organisations, CCA participated in and contributed to peace advocacy conferences organised by the UN in Vienna and the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the German Government in Berlin. The international ecumenical advocacy platform initiated by CCA to facilitate peace, democratisation, and human security of millions of Myanmar people who are undergoing traumatic experiences within Myanmar and those Myanmarese held up in refugee camps on the Thailand-Myanmar border. This international advocacy platform, launched by CCA in 2024, is the Myanmar Ecumenical Solidarity Accompaniment Programme. These are some of the new initiatives introduced and organised since 2015 to address emerging situations in Asia where ecumenical responses are warranted, in which CCA participates and contributes as part of our faith and witness. The social, political, and religious landscape of Asia continues to change rapidly. What trends do you believe will most shape the mission and witness of churches in the region over the next decade? Dr Chunakara: The role of mainline churches and their witness in many areas of Asia is undergoing drastic changes for several reasons. Members of traditional churches are attracted to the growing trend of aggressive evangelism, promoted by new-generation churches and para-church groups with a new mission thrust and missionary zeal. In the changing Asian context, this tendency to give way to non-institutional expressions of Christian mission and evangelisation is gaining prominence in several countries. At the same time, the trend of charismatic and new forms of independent Pentecostal and evangelical movements is also growing, with these movements spreading their wings. More visible changes will take place in the coming years, too, as churches in Asia shift from traditional institutional church models created by Western mission agencies to more Indigenous and poly-centric mission approaches. Amid rapid urbanisation, digital advancement and expansion, the growth of new forms of ecclesial communities, and a declining interest among traditional Christians in participating in church and ecumenical activities, new mission movements will focus on micro-communities and workplace evangelism. In this context, the mission and witness of Asian churches will be shaped by emerging trends such as “poly-centric missions” and "reverse missions.” Asia emerged as one of the fastest-growing Christian populations in the world, next to Africa. Some of the historical mission fields of Western missions in Asia, such as South Korea, China, and India, are now major mission-sending hubs, equipping mission workers not only for domestic church-planting ministries but also for sending missionaries beyond their borders, including to the West. The mushrooming of independent new-generation churches, which claim Pentecostal or neo-Pentecostal emphases and teachings, widens their ministries, adds more members to Christianity, and, at the same time, engages in missional work, leading to fragmentation within the established churches. Organisations often bring together churches with diverse traditions, cultures, and perspectives. What have you learned about fostering unity amid diversity, and what advice would you offer to your successor? Dr Chunakara: Ecclesial unity is essential for a united witness. However, in Asia, we witness a growth of “ecumenical archipelagos”—isolated networks, parallel structures, and alternative platforms that fragment the ecumenical movement in Asia. Some arise from renewed denominationalism, funding imbalances, or changing missional strategies of former mission agencies operating in Asia that do not sufficiently respect local churches or enable them to be united in mission and witness. A growing trend towards denominationalism poses serious challenges to ecclesial unity and ecumenical coherence in Asia. In some cases, former mission agencies and churches appear to be reasserting denominational identities in Asian countries where they established churches more than a century ago. This tendency undermines ecclesial unity in Asia and limits the participation of traditional and historic churches in broader ecumenical engagement. This trend has deep consequences, not just for the way the mission strategy is reorganised, but also for the underlying Christological and ecclesiological formulations of the Christian message in a broken world, where unity of the church is much needed for effective Christian witness. As the new tendency of degenerated mission strategies and missiological articulations based on denominationalism poses an enormous challenge to ecclesial unity and ecumenism in Asia as a whole, CCA has to address this issue with its counterparts, such as the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences of the Catholic Church and the Asian Evangelical Alliance. CCA very recently organised an international consultation to examine the changing ecclesial landscape in Asia, with the participation of the FABC and the AEA. The consultation called on the churches in Asia to move away from a “my church” mentality to a “we are together in God’s Kingdom” mentality. With this new trend of the development of such Christian groups and the spread of their organised efforts, the ecumenical space is shrinking, and the decline of traditional churches and the fading of the ecumenical spirit are eroding ecumenical commitments among the mainline churches in Asia. On a personal level, how has serving as CCA general secretary helped to shape your understanding of Christian leadership, faith, and the role of the church in addressing contemporary social issues? Dr Chunakara: It has traditionally been understood that the church addresses contemporary social issues by acting as a moral compass and engaging in prophetic witnessing. Such involvement is firmly rooted in building resilience and championing the causes of marginalised people and communities in an increasingly complex world. Over the past ten years, as the general secretary of CCA, I have had more opportunities to engage in prophetic witnessing on behalf of the Asian churches and the ecumenical movement. The need for deeper, more committed engagement by churches in people’s struggle for human rights and the upholding of human dignity became one of CCA's priorities, for which I provided guidance and leadership. I have increasingly realised the need to develop integrity leadership in churches and ecumenical organisations, and stewardship in pastoral ministry. It is with this conviction that I developed and launched a CCA programme to promote the principles of good governance and integrity leadership in churches and ecumenical organisations. As several church leaders engage in corrupt practices due to poor stewardship in financial management, the integrity and credibility of church leaders in general, as well as the credibility of churches and related organisations, are on the verge of decline or degeneration. Although speaking out against corruption among church leaders may not be well received by certain church leaders in some Asian countries, this programme has been enthusiastically welcomed by most churches and organisations in Asia, as good governance, integrity leadership, and stewardship in pastoral ministry are considered essential parameters of Christian values. When I look back, I am deeply satisfied that this programme we initiated, which will be beneficial for future generations of church leaders and churches as a whole in Asia. You recently warned that the growth of Christianity in Asia has not necessarily led to greater Christian unity. What do you see as the most significant barriers preventing churches from moving beyond denominational identities toward deeper collaboration? Dr Chunakara: Although Christianity in Asia is as old as the continent's history, Christians remain a minority across Asia, except in two countries – the Philippines and Timor-Leste. In most Asian countries, Christianity spread through missionary movements from the West. However, today, an aggressive mission and evangelisation process by independent new-generation churches and para-church groups has become a common trend in most Asian countries. Traditional churches and denominations are more interested in fine-tuning their engagement in the name of confessional family identities, and their new approaches and strategies in organising regional and sub-regional groupings are diffusing the ecumenical spirit of mainline traditional churches. A lack of ecumenical coherence and commitment, resulting from the increasing tendency to promote denominationalism and alliances formed in the name of confessional family identities, has now emerged. The new forms of ecumenical networks and the conversion of former mission boards or agencies into ecumenical organisations are hindrances to ecumenism and to the Asian ecumenical movement. This trend is practised so that newborn ecumenical babies have access to more financial resources, which were, interestingly, gained from Asia itself through their mission property sales. It has become a concern that certain mission agencies once active in Asia are now trying to resurface in their former mission fields and divide mission-founded churches there. They are working in Asia through their corporate-style offices and staff, and are trying to create parallel ecumenical networks, conciliar entities, and structures in the name of ecumenism. Certain North American and European mission agencies and theological funding agencies have emerged as programme implementors in the region. They are opening field offices to become closer partners to their local counterparts and programmes. This new tendency is causing increased confusion in some churches. It tends to distance them from WCC, CCA, or even national conciliar bodies, as they are compelled to demonstrate their allegiance to mission agencies or theological education institutions, mainly because of funding support from such organisations. Many traditional ecumenical bodies face an emerging trend of a lack of sense of ownership among their member churches. They are interested in showing allegiance to former mission agencies that now appear in their midst and offer financial resources. You have often mentioned a “people-centred, grassroots ecumenism.” Can you share examples of where you have seen this model work effectively, and what practical steps local congregations can take to make ecumenism part of everyday church life? Dr Chunakara: We tend to think of churches working together at the local or grassroots level only when we face a local crisis, and that is often portrayed as a good example of ecumenism. However, the actual intention was to address local crises or to face a common threat or enemy. On other occasions, local churches organise Christmas or Easter celebrations that are also presented as ecumenical events. But there are many other contexts in which local churches often come together and work together in local areas, through which their visible expressions of ecclesial unity, as well as their sincere efforts to promote and nurture common witness, are evident. Local churches have set up platforms at the local level. They are working with faith-based organisations to take joint initiatives to promote communal harmony, advocate on HIV and AIDS, address violence against women, and campaign to extend humanitarian aid in times of critical need. Those are spontaneous initiatives and actions led and motivated by local pastors or lay members of congregations. There are several places in Asian countries, such as local initiatives of expressions of visible ecclesial ecumenism as well as wider ecumenism, where we find a new impetus to increase not only interchurch collaboration to respond to the crisis or deal with common threats, but also in the spirit of genuine aspirations of the churches to work together for the entire humanity. After observing and experiencing several such instances, I am convinced that ecumenism must be understood as more than institutional dialogue, occasional cooperation, or the sharing of common public platforms among church leaders. Joint actions by churches at the grassroots to affirm the values of the gospel and their practical application are evident at the local level in several Asian countries through their participation in much-needed areas of social reconstruction, peacebuilding, conflict resolution, and reconciliation ministry. I am sure proper ecumenical formation training at local levels will be helpful tools to inculcate the values of ecumenism among the faithful in the local contexts for which ecumenism is to be understood, both a theological commitment to the visible unity of the Church and practical collaboration to address the challenges facing all God’s people and the entire creation. If we continue to create narratives only of the early history of ecumenism and the ecumenical movement, by quoting scholarly ecumenists and narratives introduced at major conferences and meetings, they will have no relevance in contemporary local contexts. In the modern or contemporary contexts, the main emphasis should be contextually taught with a focus on the oikumene, the inhabited universe, the whole world, and the humanitarian deliberations needed: about justice, peace, struggle for human dignity, social justice, and many other related aspects to ensure the values of humanity. The old style of articulating ecumenical vision and ecumenism, with an emphasis on the once-dominant Euro-American theological model, is no longer applicable or relevant in Asian contexts. The platform provided by CCA helps Asian theologians articulate the Asianness of logical hermeneutics. CCA’s approach to promote grassroots ecumenism is to bring people together in local settings without effacing their denominational and religious differences and work towards a common goal of promoting unity and integrity of all God’s people and all God’s creation; such a practice of developing and strengthening grassroots ecumenism can be promoted with a hope and spiritual fellowship for unity. Is there a declining interest in ecumenical formation among younger generations in Asia and worldwide? What new approaches are needed to engage young Christians in the ecumenical movement and prepare the next generation of ecumenical leaders in Asia? Dr Chunakara: Ecumenism, understood and defined as a connecting movement that recognises diversity, has little influence among the new generations of Christian youth, branded as Gen Z and Millennials (also known as Generation Y), living in a global village today. It is a reality that today’s youth are, to a large extent, alienated from the mainstream of the ecumenical movement, especially from the “institutionalised” ecumenical movement. Young Christians were once imbued with the spirit of ecumenism, but today’s younger generation is no longer anchored to a particular geographical or denominational setting. Today, young people’s world views, especially regarding religion and tradition, sources of authority, issues of segregation and discrimination, are changing. The Christian youth also have some “nomadic” mentality as they cannot simply accept staying in one church from the time of baptism until death; they are actually lacking a sense of belonging. In such situations, we must recognise that ecumenism will lose its relevance if it fails to address the emerging trends shaping the lives and feelings of young people, or if we neglect their voices, perspectives, and aspirations, they will not be interested in churches or the ecumenical movement. A significant concern in the functioning of the ecumenical movement at various levels today is the limited priority given to creating spaces where young people can come together, especially at a time when they continue to face mounting challenges. In this context, CCA considers it a priority to embed youth engagement at regional, national and local levels through special platforms that foster ecumenism and encourage a collaborative approach. As Asia stands at the crossroads of complex social, economic, political, ecological, and spiritual challenges affecting young people, CCA realises that the need for such engagement becomes even more urgent. We need to recognise the fact that young people everywhere are navigating harsh realities, including conflicts, violence, political and economic instability, unemployment, rampant militarisation, environmental degradation, cultural fragmentation, lack of adequate healthcare, and the impacts of rapid technological advancement. Engaging youth in the church and ecumenical movement requires a broader vision that shifts from traditional passive participation in church services to developing authentic relationships and providing them with opportunities for meaningful leadership. As modern youth prefer to connect their faith with global issues, their concerns and priorities also should be addressed. In this situation, CCA’s strategy focuses on a more intentional and coordinated effort to foster meaningful connections and interactions within the ecumenical framework, making ecumenism relevant to young people in Asia. Christian Conference of Asia |
