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| Dr. Mathews George Chunakara and members of the CCA General Committee with the President of Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand (Pic from CCA News - www.cca.org.hk) |
Dr. Mathews George Chunakara, a lay member of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church in India has been elected unanimously as the new General Secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) for a term of five years by the General Committee of the CCA which met at the Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand from 10-12 February 2015.
Mathews George Chunakara is the first Indian citizen to be elected to this position. He will succeed Rev. Dr. Henriette Hutabarat Lebang from Indonesia, who was elected General Secretary in 2010.
Dr. Mathews George Chunakara comes with rich ecumenical experiences in Asia and at the global level. He held various positions in his own country in India, Asia region and at the global level during the past thirty years. He was Director of the Commission of Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, Switzerland from 2009 to 2014. Prior to that, he served as Asia Secretary of the WCC (2000- 2009) and Executive Secretary for International Affairs of the CCA in Hong Kong (1993- 2000).
Mathews George has made significant contributions to the ecumenical formation and leadership development in Asia, peace and reconciliation, advocacy on human rights, justice and development, religious freedom, communal harmony and developing and nurturing relations with churches in communist countries and governments in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Peoples Republic of China and North Korea through his work in CCA and WCC. He facilitated the founding of three National Councils of Churches in Asia – Cambodia, Nepal and Bhutan.
He has authored and edited more than fifteen books in English and Malayalam. His latest books includeCalled to be Prophetic in the Oikumene; Ecumenism in Asia: Prospects and Challenges; and Living Together in the Household of God : Challenges to Pilgrimage of Peace with Justice in Asia.
The CCA is the largest ecumenical organization in Asia and the first Regional Ecumenical Organization founded in the world in 1957. CCA has a membership of 101 churches and 17 National Councils of Churches covering a vast geographical region from the West Asia, Iran to the East Asia in Japan, and from the North in Nepal to the Australasia, in New Zealand.
Source: CCA News (http://cca.org.hk/home/2015/02/dr-mathews-george-chunakara-elected-general-secretary-of-cca/)
The National Council of Churches in India congratulates Dr. Mathews George Chunakara on his new appointment as General Secretary of CCA, and wishes CCA the very best as it continues to grow under his leadership, to be an even greater channel of justice, hope, joy, and ecumenical togetherness for Asia which is beset with many pressing challenges.
