3rd Assembly: Bangkok 1964

The Assembly convened around the theme ‘The Christian Community within the Human Community’. In the opening address, Bishop E.C. Sobrepena, Chairperson of the EACC, chose as his theme the scriptural calling to ‘a unity of the spirit’. “It was a demand,” he said, “for full obedience from the churches to manifest their oneness in every way open to them.”

The two major concerns during the Assembly were ‘the problems arising from the dialogue of the Church with the world’ and ‘the issues which the Churches must face in their call to renewal’.

Keynote lectures were on ‘Making Jesus Known’, ‘Understanding the Tides of History’, ‘The Joy of the Kingdom of God’, and ‘The Cultivation of the Christian Life’. Bible studies centred around ‘the discipline of worship’, ‘the discipline of faith’, ‘the discipline of service’, and ‘the discipline of love’.

Statements issued by the Assembly included:

• The Christian Community within the Human Community
• Christian Encounters with those of other beliefs
• The Call to Holy Living
• The Call to Renewal in the Church of Asia
• Asian Mission
• Confessional Families and the Churches in Asia
• On Relations with Roman Catholics