In March 31 thru April 6, 2005, the Christian Council of delegates will convene in Thailand for the 12th General Assembly in the city of Chiang Mai. The theme of this year’s gathering will be “Building Communities of Peace for All.” Opening service will be held at the CCT Chiang Mai First Church. The closing ceremony for conference will be held at the Payap University.
This year, the conference will discuss about the current ecumenical trends, and its impact on communities throughout the world in the 21st century. According, to the CCA website, there is the need to take into consideration Asia’s diversity in culture in order to succeed with uniting to promote improved coexistence between Asia’s Christians and Asians of other religions such as Islam and Buddhism. Thus, working toward peace in Asia.
The secondary focus, or theme, for this conference is title “Decade to Overcome Violence.” The conference will address issues such as economic globalization, religious fundamentalism, ethnic conflicts, massive poverty, injustice and corruption, militarization, human-rights violations, discrimination, and gender injustice.
The main focus for this year’s conference starts a new cycle for CCA. In 2000, the CCA talked about issues under the theme, “A time of fullness for all.” The past conference talked about ways from which Asia’s Christians could more effectively preach the gospel to the world. This year’s focus will build off of findings made during the last conference, CCA website says.
CCA representative planning to attend the meeting hail from Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Pakistan, Myanmar, Malaysia, Korea, Kampuchea, Japan, Indonesia, India, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Australia, and New Zealand.
