By Matters India Reporter

New Delhi, Nov 20, 2025: The Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) on November 20 elected Reverend Jung Eun (Grace) Moon, an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church of Korea, as its new general secretary.

She replaces Mathews George Chunakara, a lay member of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church from India, who in 2024 took over as the moderator of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches last year.

Reverend Moon’s election took place during the CCA executive committee meeting held at the conference headquarters in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

She will officially assume office on June 5, 2026, according to a statement from the CCA headquarters.

CCA Moderator Bishop Reuel Norman Marigza and Reverend Chunakara congratulated Reverend Moon on her election.

Reverend Moon was the executive Secretary of CCA’s Faith, Mission and Unity during 2012-2016. She then served as program coordinator for Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology. Prior to joining the CCA staff, she served as secretary for Ecumenical Relations Planning at the Presbyterian Church of Korea General Assembly Office.

Ordained on October 21, 2004, by the 167th Seoul Presbytery of the Korean Presbyterian Church, Reverend Moon’s association with CCA began as a youth steward in1990. She later served as a voting delegate at the 11th Assembly in Tomohon in 2000, where she was elected to the CCA Programme Committee, a post she held for five years.

As part of the CCA staff, she played key roles in the planning and preparation staff team of two CCA General Assemblies in 2015 and 2023.

Reverend Moon has also been involved in wider ecumenical programs including the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK), as well in the Korean Association of Women Theologians.

Chunakara was first elected the CCA general secretary in 2015. He was re-elected unanimously for a second term in 2019.

His work has focused on ecumenism, peace and reconciliation, human rights, and justice advocacy across Asia and globally.

Chunakara has served the Asian and global ecumenical movement in various capacities during the past three decades; including his tenure in CCA as an executive secretary for Indo-China Concerns, International Affairs and Human Rights from 1993 to 2000; Asia Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, Switzerland; as well as the Director of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs of the WCC from 2000 to 2014.

The CCA underwent a major programmatic restructuring after Chunakara assumed his responsibilities as general secretary.