As a member of the Lambeth Conference communications team, I was assigned to work on The Lambeth Daily, the official newspaper of the conference. The Daily was published for the members of the conference, then posted each day on the web page (www.lambethconference .org) for readers around the world. As background for the Daily, I was involved in gathering information and conducting interviews. In this series, I hope to share with the readers of TLC several perspectives of Lambeth Conference which have not been published, with the permission of the Anglican Communion.

The Rt. Rev. Stephen Sykes, Bishop of Ely (England), and I have a good deal in common. We are both white. We are both tall. We both speak English as our first language. Our families have a similar ethnic heritage. My grandmother's maiden name is Sykes. We each live in a nation which is considered to be "developed." Neither of us faces any physical threats upon our lives because of our association with Jesus Christ. Both of us were profoundly moved by our encounters with the persecuted church at Lambeth.

In his sermon to the conference at the morning Eucharist Aug. 5, Bishop Sykes shared this reflection:

"My study group heard of an evangelist who would not drop his Bible when the soldiers came, and was killed, and the Bible was stuffed into his wounds. I should want you to know, my sisters and brothers, what it is like to hear such stories from the standpoint of those who enjoy the blessing of civil peace in our countries. It simply stops us in our tracks. And it demands of us that we ask the question whether there is anything at all for which we would be willing to lay down our lives. That is a literal question we rarely have to face; and it is a gift to us that you make us face it."

With Bishop Sykes, I benefited greatly from the testimonies we heard from faithful Christians who dare to live their faith at the risk of the persecution Jesus spoke of in the Beatitudes.

From the Sudan, we received a report while at the conference that the government had threatened to seize the headquarters of the Diocese of Khartoum while the bishops were at Lambeth.

From Yemen, we received reports of the killing of three Roman Catholic nuns.

We heard first-hand testimonies of Christian persecution from many countries, including the Sudan, Nigeria and Pakistan.

In Pakistan, for example, blasphemy laws target Christians and other minorities, leading to direct persecution through the legal system. On Aug. 7, Lambeth Conference bishops unanimously passed a resolution condemning the discriminatory laws, calling them "the source of victimization of the minorities of Pakistan."

"The Blasphemy Law hangs over our head like the sword of Damocles," said Bishop Azad Marshall of the Diocese of the Arabian Gulf (Pakistan). "[It] has paralyzed our community with fear, and ever since its introduction we have seen brutalization of Christian individuals and rural communities."

Bishop Samuel Azariah of Raiwind (Pakistan) told the conference that the law was passed "at a time when a military dictator was ruling the country for 11 years," and that under the law "anyone who uses derogatory remarks against the prophet of Islam will be put to death."

In addition to the specific targeting of Christians, Lambeth participants heard many accounts of unrest and human rights violations in places such as Uganda, Sudan, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ghana. The conference passed human rights resolutions aimed specifically at northern and western Uganda, Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi.

Reading the reports and resolutions of the four sections of the conference underscores the purpose of such a gathering. While many testimonies were heard expressing the persecution which Christians experience in Islamic regime, other testimonies of hope were shared, in the same forum, of countries where Christians and Muslims are working together for peace and religious freedom.

"We have challenges," a bishop's spouse from Nigeria said. "It takes holding on to your faith - not compromising places of worship. Christians are marginalized. (Coming to Lambeth) makes you realize that other people have even greater problems than you, and that you are not alone."

In courtyards, at dinner tables in worship, study and dialogue, persons at Lambeth were able to witness Christian solidarity in practice every day. It was manifestly evident that those who came to the conference from troubled lands received comfort from their opportunities to share, to hear the official support of the conference members, to pray and be prayed for.

Western Christians who practice their faith in peaceful lands, under no constant threat, were forever marked by the experience of fellowship with these people who boldly, yet humbly uphold the name of Christ. When introduced to three Sudanese bishops, I was so moved by their joy and peace, my tears stopped my ability to speak at all.

Several excerpts from Bishop Sykes' sermon are worth sharing:

"We too, in the end, must meet with death. Whatever the life expectancy may be in our own country, there is not a country in the world in which the final casualty figure is less than 100 percent, and our faith asks of us all that we embrace and understand that literal death without delay or hesitation. St. Paul says, 'I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live but it is Christ who lives in me' (Gal. 2:20).

"My brothers and sisters, I know from my own experience there is such a thing as becoming too familiar with the faith, with talking too much and listening too little, with becoming immune to the cost and implications of the gospel. It is, after all, human nature to push away the thought of our certain future death, and make an elegant religion out of empty words and gestures.

"To walk in newness of life is a serious, costly undertaking. 'If anyone wants to become my followers,' says Jesus, 'let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me'."

The Rev. David Duprey is the rector of St. Peter's Church, Sheridan, Wyo.