National Council of Churches of Nepal

The National Council of Churches of Nepal (NCCN) is an indigenous Nepali organization made up of Nepali churches. For the NCCN, the following activities serve to meet one of the most urgent needs that they perceive for the churches in their country – the lack of trained human resources to lead the churches and the ecumenical council. Moreover, due to the increasing influence and orientation of the evangelical and charismatic groups from overseas, the Nepali churches are disunited and not ecumenically oriented. Below are four programs sponsored by the NCCN:

1. Ecumenical Leadership and Capacity Building Training for Young Church Pastors
2. Ecumenical Leadership Capacity Building Training for Women
3. Ecumenical Leadership Capacity Building Training for Youth Pastors
4. One day inter religious encounter focusing on “Overcoming Violence-The Role of Religions”

These programs are being well received by Nepali churches. The one-day event on “Overcoming Violence – The Role of Religions” made a significant positive impact on the participants. Justice and peace concerns were brought to the center-stage of the agenda.Many burning issues, that have been typically disregarded, were discussed at length. NCCN was pleased that the one-day conference focusing on violence has had participation from every major religion in Nepal.

The broader global ecumenical family is concerned over the alarming situations in Southern Asian countries, including Nepal. Based on the proposals of several ecumenical church groupings, including the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), and the Council of Churches of South Asia, it was agreed to develop the South Asia Ecumenical Partnership Program. The SAEPP will focus on four areas for future involvement of the churches and ecumenical councils in South Asia, in cooperation with the ecumenical partners and churches from the northern hemisphere as well as CCA and WCC.

The South Asia Ecumenical Partnership Program (SAEPP) is in its infancy, yet significant strides have been possible towards the materialization of the objectives behind its launching. SAEPP desires to assure the peoples of South Asia that the global ecumenical movement is accompanying them through their life and struggles. The National Council of Churches of Nepal is a member of the SAEPP.

One of the four focal points of the SAEPP is “Capacity Building/ Human Resource Development”. Under this umbrella, the SAEPP hopes to:

Equip the South Asian Churches to develop local leadership in various denominations and national councils of churches in five South Asian countries

Initiate and strengthen ecumenical leadership formation in South Asian countries

Develop human and organizational potential enhancement in various fields
The National Council of Churches of Nepal is seeing overwhelming support and encouragement from many church leaders who have participated in the training programs locally as well as from the broader SAEPP effort. Global Ministries accompanies the efforts of the NCCN to be a positive presence in the difficult context of Nepal.