During the WCC Secretary’s Asia Pacific tour in Hong Kong, a consultation was held jointly by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) on 7th July, reports the CCA.

Dr Ahn Jae Woong, General Secretary of the CCA presided over the meeting. Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, General Secretary of the WCC introduced the leaders to the future work plans of the WCC for the coming years. Rev Dr Kobia again empahsised on the “Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV)” project which was officially inaugurated in 2001.

DOV is a ten-year initiative which aims to join all the churches together to seek peace, justice, and reconciliation at all levels with the spirit of the Gospel. Also, it is to repent together for the world’s violence, and to engage in theological reflection to overcome the spirit, logic, and practice of violence.

In 2005, Phase IV of the DOV will begin, and an analysis and evaluation of the first stage of the DOV will be carried out. In preparing for the next five years, participant churches will have to identify the current challenges and exchange workable strategies. As Asia is the focus of DOV in 2005, Rev Kobia said that the WCC and CCA will have an opportunity to work closely together. He hoped that the WCC could learn more from the region about building peaceful and harmonious living between different faiths. Asia was complimented to be successful in this aspect.

The WCC Secretary talked about the importance of overcoming violence because it is an issue that is likely to influence the lives and relationships of nations and their people. He said violence in today's world exists in all levels, from families, communities and cities, extending to national and international level. However, many Christian churches have just accepted these wars. To the staff of the CCA, Documentation for Action Groups in Asia and Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism, Rev Kobia challenged, “Should this be the case for all times and in the future?”

The second priority of WCC is inter-religious dialogue and co-operation with people of other faiths. Rev Kobia announced that the WCC is planning to hold a major international conference on inter-religious dialogue in June 2005. He hoped the dialogue and co-operation could go beyond an academic level, to the level where people live.

Ecumenical formation will be another area that is going to be strongly supported by the WCC. He acknowledged the difficulty that is faced by the WCC and many ecumenical partner organisations in the world. In the past, ecumenical formation for the first and second generation leaders was set up through well-structured bodies like WSCF, SCM, YMCA and YWCA, however, now there is a lack of leadership formation for young people.

In conclusion, Rev Kobia pointed out that spirituality is the basis of the work of the WCC and this is what made it different from many other secular non-governmental organisations in the world. He commented that the WCC has always had a “good and strong relationship" with the CCA. The consultation ended with a tree planting ceremony at the campus of the CCA Centre.

(Photos by Christian Conference of Asia)