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Letters Call for solidarity with refugees We are concerned about the global refugee crises. These people are our brothers and sisters and part of our family. We are concerned about their welfare, and most importantly, we are not forgetting them.This is the time on the eve of the millennium. We don't need to wait for another 10 years for the next Lambeth Conference. Most of the bishops here are coming from refugeeñproducing countries. Let's give them some solidarity and hope. Let them take the love from here to their people to say:`You are not forgotten'. Therefore I urge the Lambeth Conference to designate one Sunday as Refugee Sunday.The United Nations has suggested the second Sunday of June. We are not concerned about the exact day or month; what we want is to see the Lambeth Conference remembering the forgotten people (the strangers). Please use the opportunity to do some good towards this very vulnerable population. People need support. Please use your good voices to raise this concern. Thank you very much for your support in advance. (Mr) Paul Schneyu From the campus mail Credit for Tamil poet I was delighted to see the `Lambeth Praise'. It will go down in history as one of the best collections of hymns made in recent times. But I have to point out an error made regarding the 208th hymn`Saranam Saranam.' No mention has been made of the humble Tamil poet of my diocese who composed it. The compiler had said that this hymn was a Pakistani hymn set to Panjabi melody. The tune and the words were that of Rev Issac Yesusakayam whose brother Issac Selveratnam is now a minister in the Colombo Diocese. The poet Issac Yesusakayam left my diocese to join the Christa Seva Ashram in 1944, and served the Ashram till he died in 1970. He was one of the Tamil Christian poets of Sri Lanka who contributed much to the spiritual advancement of the Tamil people. He did not know English. Rev Dr D.P. Niles, who was enchanted by the poetry, translated this hymn into English. I hope compilers in the future will give due recognition to this Tamil poet. (The Rt Rev Dr) Subrammaniam Jebanesan, Bishop-in-Jaffra, Sri Lanka Collected essays honour Mary Tanner An important resource for discussion of issues of Christian unity and Anglican identity---at the Lambeth Conference and beyond---has just been published by the Church of England Council for Christian Unity in honour of its General Secretary, Dr Mary Tanner, who is to retire in September. Community-Unity-Communion: Essays in Honour of Mary Tanner contains contributions on these themes by former Primates Robert Runcie and John Habgood; leading ecumenists such as Jean Tillard and Wolfhart Pannenberg; and the following participants in the 1998 Lambeth Conference: Geoffrey Wainwright, Michael Root, Pierre Duprey, John Hind, Barry Rogerson, Eric Kemp and Christopher Hill, among others. Of the 26 contributors, half are Anglicans and half are from other Christian traditions; half are from England and half from other countries. The book is available from the Conference bookshop or from Church of England staff members in Section Four (300 pages, £9.95). (Dr) Colin Podmore Section Four Staff Back to front page of this issue |
