To be an Anglican in this world is to be a peacemaker.

Since returning from Lambeth Conference, I am more convinced than ever that this is a truth of the Anglican experience and identity. The world over, we can find cases where Anglicans and Anglican leaders, even in minority positions, are having a profound effect in processes toward peace.

My first exposure to global Anglican peacemaking came on my first visit to the Holy Land in 1990. Through six subsequent visits, interviews and other research, I have been profoundly moved by the great effect Anglicans have had in the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians, even as a minority church of the minority religion. Through the Rt. Rev. Samir Kafity, (retired Bishop in Jerusalem and the Middle East), and his successor, the Rt. Rev. Riah Abu el Assal, the clergy and lay people, I have learned to recognize, understand and appreciate both sides of that ancient conflict.

As a mentor of peace, Bishop Riah has taught me much in the last nine years. He has shown me the essence of Jesus' admonition to love our enemies. Of all the approaches possible, he affirms that it is "easier to recognize the enemy, and make the enemy a partner." He has made this case to both Israelis and Palestinians, promoting mutual recognition and dialogue since 1984, first as pastor of Christ Evangelical Episcopal Church in Nazareth, and now as bishop. He is in a minority position numerically, yet a pivotal position strategically. He is Israeli in citizenship, but not Jewish. He is Arab and Palestinian, but not Muslim.

Asked to explain his most outstanding memories of the last 10 years of his work, Bishop Riah chose to highlight the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize to Yasir Arafat, Shimon Perez, and Yitzhak Rabin, in 1994. Invited by officials in Norway and Chairman Arafat in thanksgiving for the role he had played in the dialogue, Bishop Riah was one of only three Christians invited from either the Israeli or Palestinian parties.

As a member of the Lambeth Conference's communications team, I had the opportunity to listen to many speeches and sermons, hear stories of faith, and conduct interviews personally. Lambeth confirmed that the Anglican peacemaking I have experienced in Jerusalem is but one facet of a global Anglican peacemaking effort. The following are highlights from three interviews at Lambeth.

Bishop William Moses is the Moderator of the Church of South India, one of the largest ecumenical churches in the world. Formed in 1947, it is comprised of Anglicans, Congregationalists, Presbyterians and Methodists.

In his sermon at the morning Eucharist on July 21, led by the delegation from the Church of South India, Bishop Moses brought greetings from the 900 million people of India, including Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and Christians.

In an interview following the service, Bishop Moses pointed to the unique role of Christians as peacemakers. Even though the Church of South India represents a minority (2 million members), he is often welcomed to act as moderator between people of other faiths.

The bishop invited and challenged the others at Lambeth to take up the gospel call to the ministry of reconciliation. He called for a "decade of peace and reconciliation" between this and the next Lambeth Conference saying, "Let us go home with a commitment to a Peace Age."

The Rev. Canon Patrick P. Augustine is rector of St. John's Church, Waynesboro, Va. A native Pakistani, Canon Augustine holds an extensive resume of interfaith work, which earned him an invitation from the Archbishop of Canterbury to attend Lambeth Conference as a consultant on interfaith issues.

Living as a Christian and a priest in Pakistan was the ground of his interfaith education. "Interfaith dialogue was not something I had to go to university to learn," he said, "because of my interaction with Muslim friends and neighbors. I found my call to speak on behalf of the oppressed Christian communities, by working with media and the government."

Canon Augustine has turned his peacemaking efforts toward dialogue with Muslims and Christians in the Washington, D.C. area. For seven years he has encouraged Christians and Muslims to discuss commonality and differences between their respective communities. He portrays himself as a committed Christian, asserting his goal to be "honest to my faith, and not to water down the uniqueness of our faith," yet he sees his concern for Muslims and people of other faiths as an extension of God's love for all his children.

Early this year, Canon Augustine visited the Sudan with an official delegation from the Episcopal Church in the U.S., which included a visit to the Kakuma refugee camp. Approximately half of the 50,000 people in this camp are Christians, with half of the Christians being Anglican. The delegation's concern did not rest with the Christians alone. "I felt it would be unfair if I didn't visit the Somali Muslims, who were the minority," Canon Augustine said. He issued an invitation to the leader of the Somali Muslim community to meet with him. The invitation went unanswered. On his fourth invitation they finally met. "I assured him that God cares for Christians and Muslims," and that the delegation was concerned with assessing their needs as well.

"Dialogue will not work if it stays in university halls, in the U.N., or at a plenary session of Lambeth Conference," he said. "Dialogue will only happen when trust is built on a grass roots level."

The Most Rev. Robin Eames is the Primate of All Ireland, which is a profound title in itself. "The Church of Ireland is the Anglican Church in the whole of Ireland. We have some 450,000 members. We have 12 bishops and we have dioceses that are irrespective of the political border of Ireland, between Northern Ireland and the Republic ... we are an all Ireland church."

Though its strongest numbers are in the north, it is a minority church in both north and south, he noted. In the Republic, the Church of Ireland pales in number compared to the Roman Catholic Church. In North Ireland, the Church of Ireland is second to the Presbyterian Church. Yet again, despite a minority position, in Archbishop Eames we find a person who has been of tremendous effect in speaking for peace. Though the province extends to all of Ireland, the members of the church definitely fall along political lines.

"The Church of Ireland people in Northern Ireland are very much, majority-wise, wanting to be members of the United Kingdom," he said. "Now that immediately shows you some of the tensions that there are within the church. One section, numerically strongest, wishing to retain its links with the United Kingdom, with the British regime, and the other side being strongly in favor of the Republic of Ireland. And some of the wounds go very deep into our society, folklore, literature, culture and everything else."

He continued, "Now the question out of all this at the moment is, where does the Church of Ireland's future lie in Ireland as a whole, in the Republic and in Northern Ireland? And the best answer I can give to that very, very profound question at the moment is this: The Church of Ireland is rediscovering its roots, but it is a microcosm of the Anglican Communion. Living with difference. Living with diversity."

It is precisely this Anglican way which makes the Archbishop of Ireland so effective and sought after in the continuing dialogues for peace in the North. He understands the polarity because he lives with it each day within his own church.

In response to the reports sometimes heard of "Protestants fighting Catholics," I asked the archbishop if the church leaders were encouraging violence.

"Certainly not," he said. "The four leading churches - Roman Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist - meet regularly. We pray together. We issue statements together. We visit troubled spots together. Witness together. And we minister together. And we do so in ways which we hope can be interpreted as our unity and united voice ...

"We are obviously conscious that in our own denominations there are different political aspirations and outlooks. But the important thing is contained in a little phrase which we are all tired of using, but it hasn't lost its ancient meaning, and that is 'there is too much religion in Ireland, and too little Christianity'." o