Dr. George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury, Canon John Peterson, General Secretary of the Anglican Communion, Jerusalem's President Bishop Samir Kafity, Bishop Coadjutor Riah Abu el-Assal and Bishop James Ottley, Anglican Observer at the United Nations, have all made statements on the recent bombings in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
"Anglicans around the world were asked to offer special prayers on 30 September [1996] for Palestinian Christians in East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank, and for a lasting peace". The Episcopal Bishops in Jerusalem, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the World Council of Churches have all issued appeals for peace in the light of recent violence which has caused the death of more than 50 people in two days.
"The events of September 11 [2001] have spoken to me of the importance of refusing to make God narrow -- that our vision of God must be a generous one, and that we must help other people, both Christian and non-Christian, to hold such a vision as well. Perhaps we as members of the Anglican Communion, which often sees itself as having a `bridge' role, have a particularly important part to play here. I believe in the months and years to come that NIFCON will play an increasingly important role in helping to coordinate the activities of our Communion in this area -- sharing experiences, supporting churches that are struggling and perhaps suffering persecution, and reaching out in humility to listen to our neighbours of other faiths".
"The greater the violence, the greater hunger for a word of peace. Not just a word, a witness. A total life commitment to peace and justice. A witness in word and deed. .... The message was spoken from the Mount of Olives nearly two millennia ago. `You will be my witnesses from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth'. I can think of no higher calling than to be a witness for peace". -- Prologue, p. xiv.
Contents divided into three sections: Contexts -- Martyria and Nonviolence -- Applications.
The author is Bishop of Jerusalem in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan, Jerusalem.