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[Daphne Mack <dmack@dfms.org>]

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99-060
Anglican Peace and Justice Network
meets in Korea, addresses Lambeth
issues
by James Solheim
(ENS) At its April 14-21 meeting in Korea, the Anglican Peace and
Justice
Network addressed issues stemming from last summer's Lambeth
Conference of Anglican bishops, especially those dealing with economic
justice and sexuality.

Representatives of 24 Anglican provinces in the networks "affirmed the
statements made at Lambeth 1998 and heard about actions for debt relief
and
cancellation of debts for the highest indebted poor countries," adding
that it was "heartening to note that the voice of the church is being
heard in the halls of power."

In addressing the inevitable globalization of the world economy, the
network
"seriously questioned whether market forces can deliver justice to the
poor and
the oppressed." It also repeated its support for the development of an
International Corporate Responsibility Code developed by church bodies
in 
the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. Network members visited
the slums of Seoul to take a closer look at the economic and political
issues
spawned by urbanization.

The network asked the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) to provide
some "guidance" on how to select projects that would benefit from funds
set aside as a result of the Lambeth resolution on international debt.
And it
asked the ACC to urge both the Israeli Government and the Palestinian
Authority "to strengthen the peace process so that the parties may enjoy
equal rights and live together in dignity and harmony as children of
God...."
Instruments of Peace
With one eye on developments in the Balkans, the network report said,
"War sadly seems to be the final answer to evil," raising again the
issue of a
"just war theory" despite discomfort with "modern warfare as a means to
conflict resolution." The network called for an examination of "what
sources
of spiritual power utilizing non-violence could be drawn upon in the
face of
grave injustices." And it asked how the church could help to "empower
the
United Nations to be a non-violent instrument of peace."

In a letter to Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey and the Rev. John
L.
Peterson, secretary general of the Anglican Communion Office, the
network
underscored the importance of an Anglican presence at the United Nations
as a way of "implementing many of the concerns" expressed by Anglicans.

The network urged "transparency in the search process" for a successor
to Bishop James Ottley, calling for a search committee that is "broadly
representative of the Communion and not weighted to any one
constituency or geographical area." The network also offered to supply
members of the committee. 

Confronting the most controversial action of Lambeth, a resolution
condemning homosexual activity as contrary to Scripture, the network
asked
the ACC to "affirm that human rights exist for all people and there can
be no
exceptions to the universal principles of those rights in the UN
Declaration,
including the rights of gays and lesbians." 

The report asked the ACC "to recognize that homosexual persons are
children
of God and to affirm that section of the Lambeth resolution which
assures the
church's gay and lesbian members 'that they are loved by God and... are
full
members of the Body of Christ.'" The network also asked ACC to implement
another part of the Lambeth resolution calling for dialogue on human
sexuality.

The Rev. Brian Grieves, the Episcopal Church's Peace and Justice officer
and secretary of the network, said that its members represent the
remarkable
diversity of the Anglican Communion and provide a crucial perspective on
a
wide range of issues. "These dedicated church leaders live with many of
these
issues on a daily basis, speaking the prophetic words of love and
justice that
are so important in a broken world," he said.