To: General Assembly Participants, Heads of Member Institutions,
Ecumenical Partners, General Assembly Local Committee
From: Executive Director
Subject: 2005 ATESEA General Assembly News and other ConcernsSubject: 2005 ATESEA General Assembly News and other Concerns

CC: (click) 2005-2009 ATESEA Office Bearers & Area Deans

Dear Colleagues,

Greetings from Manila! I hope and pray that this letter will find you well. It has been more than three weeks after we ended our General Assembly (GA) in Chiang Mai. Time flies fast. However, I am sure that all of you still treasure our warm fellowship, the richness of our sharing, the power of our worship service, the warm hospitality of our Thai friends, delicious Thai food and the beautiful cultural heritage of Thailand we had experienced during the recent General Assembly.

Allow me once again to express my thanks to all of you for your attendance and fruitful contribution during the General Assembly. Special thanks goes to our speakers (Drs Huang Po Ho, Emmanuel Gerrit Singgih, Wong Yew Chong and Hope Antone) for their stimulating presentations and to the respondents (Drs Muriel Orevillo-Montenegro, Mark Thamtai, Lo-Lung-kwong, Anna May Say Pa, Zenaida Lumba, Ezra Kok, Wati Longchar and Mercy Ah Siu-Maliko) for their challenging response; to all Preachers on October 16 Sunday worship, Moderators, Chairpersons and reporters of the small group discussions for their hard work; to Dr Chuleepran Srisunthorn and Dr Salvador “Buddy” Martinez for their powerful messages during the opening and closing worship; to our partners in mission (FTESEA; CCA; ETE, WCC; Anglican Church of Canada/Vancouver School of Theology) for their continued support and their willingness to stay on until the end of the Assembly; to our partners from the Association of Theological Schools in India, South Pacific, Myanmar, Indonesia and the related institution in Japan; to Rev Jeaneth Haller and Dr Salvador “Buddy” Martinez and our McGilvary friends who made the worship services very inspiring and meaningful; to the Chairperson and the outgoing Executive Committee members for their support and encouragement; and last but not the least to Dr Boonthong Poochareon, President, Payap University, Rev William “Bill” Yoder, Dean, McGilvary Faculty of Theology and the Local Committee members for their hard and unfailing support to make the General Assembly a resounding success!

Moreover, on behalf of all members of ATESEA families, I extend my special appreciation to Dr Marvin Hoff ( FTE, Executive Director) and Dr Gerald Anderson (FTE, Chairperson) for their valuable participation and attendance. Perhaps that may be their last attendance in the ATESEA General Assembly on official capacity. As you may know, Marvin and Jerry will retire in December 2006. We are so grateful for the work done by Marvin and Jerry to ATESEA and to its member institutions. May God’s continued blessings be upon both as they continue their ministry in FTE and then to enter a new sphere of their ministry. We bid them goodbye but not farewell. And we cherish the fond memories we had with them.

I would like also to express my gratitude for your trust in re-electing me to serve as ATESEA Executive Director for another term (2005-2009). Thank you for all the support you gave to me during the past four years. I trust that your unrelenting support will continue in the next four years as we continue to make ATESEA responsive to needs and challenges in South East Asia.

Meanwhile, let me share the followings important decisions we approved during the General Assembly:

1. The 2005 General Assembly which was held under the theme Theological Education Challenges Amidst of Changing Context of Asia and was attended by 115 participants, had come out with 5 mandate namely:
1.1. To continue to strive for Contextual Theological Education in Asia
1.2. To continue to discuss the Critical Asian Principle for clearer understanding and better implementation
1.3. To strengthen the academic standard of the SEAGST participating
schools and the ATESEA member institutions
1.4. To strengthen the community of faith where women and men serve
as partners.
1.5. To advocate self-reliance among member institutions.

2. On Accreditation, Curriculum, Programs and Organizational Matters:
2.1. To continue to accredit only certain levels of programs namely
Diploma in Theology (Dip Theol), Licentiate of Theology (LTh), Bachelor of Theology (BTh), Bachelor of Divinity (BD), Master of Divinity (MDiv), Master of Theology (MTheol) and Doctor of Theology (DTh) in order to maintain Academic Excellence.
2.2. That all member schools of ATESEA and all theological schools in Asia should urge students to take at least a course on HIV/AIDS at all degree courses. The model course developed through the initiative of ETE, WCC can be adopted by theological schools/colleges.
2.3. Accreditation Visit. The accreditation team will visit ATESEA member schools respectively (2006-Indonesia & 1 school in Singapore; 2007-Philippines & Sri Langka & Bangladesh; 2008-the rest of member schools).
2.4. The creation of the Membership Commission. The task of the Commission is to formulate policies on admission and review the status of members.
2.5. Annual fees. The current annual fees (please refer to the
Handbook) is approved as the minimum payment. However, member institutions which are richly blessed can contribute more to the association.
2,6. An increase of USD 100 in admission fee. Hereafter, new
applicant schools are charged USD 100 more than the existing
membership fee.
2.7. The establishment of an endowment fund with the single purpose to sustain ATESEA operational costs in the future.
2.7. The ATESEA Golden Anniversary Celebration will be held on November 26-28, 2007 in Singapore, the birth place of ATESEA, with the Trinity Theological College, Singapore as the host.
2.8. The next General Assembly will be held in 2009. An invitation is extended to the member institutions to volunteer or register their
interest to serve as host.
2.9. To approve the appointment of the 2005-2009 Office Bearers (please refer to the separated paper).

The aforesaid actions serve as a reminder to all GA participants and as an information to the Heads of member institutions and ecumenical partners who were unable to attend the Assembly.

3. I would like to use this occasion to inform you the followings:
3.1. In the 2004 Annual meeting, a concern was raised as to the status of member institutions which are inactive for several years in terms of participation in ATESEA activities and non-payment of annual dues. A review of membership status will be initiated very soon by ATESEA office and Membership Commission.
3.2. The outgoing and incoming Executive Committee on October 20,
` 2005 meeting had appointed Dr Huang Po Ho to coordinate the continuing discussion on the Critical Asian Principle.
3.3. The South East Asia Graduate School of Theology (SEAGST)
news. Dr Jan Sihar Aritonang (Area Dean, Western Indonesia) and
Dr Tan Kim Huat (Area Dean, Malaysia-Singapore-Thailand) had
ended their term as Area Dean. Special thanks go to Dr Aritonang
and Dr Tan Kim Huat for their hard work and dedication to their
task. Accordingly, Dr Emanuel Gerrit Singgih was elected as
Western Indonesia Area Dean and Dr Ezra Kok as Malaysia-
Singapore-Thailand Area Dean. To both, our warm welcome and
gracious felicitations.

This is all for the moment. Please continue to support and to pray for the Chairperson and the members of the new Executive Committee as well as other Office Bearers. Please pray also for the programs of ATESEA, particularly those programs which will be done next year. Among others are:

1. Accreditation Commission Meeting, in May
2 Women Workshop, in June
3. SEAGST Workshop, August
4. Accreditation Visit to our member schools in Indonesia and one school in Singapore, on October 29-Nov 5
5. Resource Commission Meeting, on Nov 3-4
6. 2006 Annual Meeting, on Nov 5-10

Thanking you for your kind attention and wishing you God’s richest blessings.

Grace and peace,

Dr Sientje Merentek-Abram
Executive Director, ATESEA
Dean, SEAGST