At the invitation of the Anglican Province of Korea, over 30 members of the Anglican Peace and Justice Network (APJN), representing 24 Provinces of the Anglican Communion, met on the grounds of Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, from April 14 to April 21, 1999. It was very much a family meeting, where concerns of individual Provinces and Dioceses of the Communion were on the table, as well as shared issues of which APJN has long been aware, that were presented to the full meeting by committees charged with investigating and discussing them in depth.

In this summary of the meeting, the committee reports are presented first, followed by in-depth reports from the Provinces and some Dioceses of the Communion. The overall tone of the reports, both those from committees and those from Provinces and Dioceses is frank. If readers had not understood before, they will certainly learn here that the concerns of the Anglican Communion have become the concerns of a cohesive global family.

The committee reports, of course, reflect the collective opinion of APJN members on a number of world and regional issues. But they also reflect concerns that reach into the lives of people around the world from every country and faith community. Concerns, for instance, about the realities of Globilization, and of the International Debt Burden, and of the worldwide trend toward Urbanization, the ways in which the problems and issues of nations and regions tend to come together in cities. And all of these issues are reflected in the report on the problems of Migrant Workers, which, in turn, informs some of the key issues raised in Asian and African Women, whose lives are frequently impacted by the effects of migrant work on family structure in many communities.

Issues surface, reflected in these reports, which are obviously going to grow in significance in the very near future. For instance, an extensive and quite eye-opening report on The Dimensions of Age begins to make us aware of the worldwide implications of a population that is living longer.

There are also the immediate, active concerns of the APJN as a collective sounding board for the Communion. There are two papers on Alternatives to War, in light of international involvement in Kosovo and potential involvement elsewhere. And there is attention paid to problems in Korea, the host country. The group considered the problem of Korean Re-Unification, and lifted up the ways in which Christian churches are attempting to become partners in a healing process. Members of APJN made a visit to the DMZ, the dividing line between the estranged nations of the peninsula. And they considered ways to continue the dialogue, launched at Lambeth in 1998, of the church with its gay and lesbian members in a Panel on Homosexuality.

The Provincial and Diocesan reports are evidence of the trust level within the Communion and the degrees of difference of opinion that are possible within this amazing worldwide body. For instance, the area-wide problems reflected in the committee presentation on Africa's Great Lakes countries, are pinned down in great detail in reports from Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania etc. And world economic problems, especially as they are reflected in the lives of people in developing countries, are explored strikingly in the article from Brazil. The report from Sri Lanka allows us a window into the political and ethnic complexities of the island nation we may not have had before. The comments from the Church of the Province of Southern Africa give us a glimpse of a mountain that has been moved there, and the problems yet to be overcome.

It is impossible to look at this collection of documents and not find a positive message. It is all about the willingness of people in a family to share their problems and concerns with each other for mutual understanding and support, and to move together to accomplish agreed upon goals. It is also a statement about the realities of the complex world we all share. Somehow, no matter how challenging and even daunting some of the problems raised here may seem, the fact that a group like the APJN is the instrument for addressing them head on you will see very little dodging of issues here is encouraging. Perhaps more than encouraging; it is something to make us proud of the spirit of the Anglican Communion in mission.