I felt it an honor to sit at lunch last week between two bishops from distant parts of the world. They had come from India and Zimbabwe to take part in a four-day conference at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge. These bishops and some 30 other Anglican theologians had gathered to exchange views about leadership and education in the family of churches they represent.

In addition to Dhirender Sahu of Darjeeling and Sebastian Bakare of Manicaland, three other delegates joined us at the lunch table. Herman Browne, a native of Liberia now based in London, represented the Archbishop of Canterbury; Christopher Lind spoke for the Anglican Church of Canada; and Robert Paterson, for the Church in Wales. All of them responded to my questions about the spiritual issues most important to them.

Bishop Bakare challenged me with a question of his own: “How do you in the press help your readers to understand that there are other countries in the world?” His words caught me unawares and I found myself unable to answer immediately.

Obviously the question carried the hidden message that Americans do not pay enough attention to nations in need of our understanding and support. I could have cited the 15 billion dollars our federal government has earmarked for AIDS treatment in Africa as a shining example of what we need to do more extensively.

Bishop Sahu spoke about the importance of sharing. Among the gifts that he mentioned are the strong family bonds among his people. This is a gift they can give the West, he said. He also identified “the kind of hospitality the poor can offer to others.” No matter their poverty, these people often prove generous to others.

The theologian from Wales, Robert Paterson, placed emphasis on the variety of circumstances that must be taken into account before judging a question of morality. The issue of homosexuality, for instance, has to be approached with sensitivity to the way it is seen in different parts of the world. You cannot explain texts from the Bible without paying attention to the situation in which they are read.

The educator Christopher Lind lives in Saskatchewan, the province that produces 55 percent of Canada’s wheat. Because of low prices, farmers have been going bankrupt, so they have pooled their products. The American government considers this an unfair trade subsidy and has slapped a 10 percent duty on wheat imported into the United States.

This is an example of the problems raised by economic globalization, says Christopher Lind. Another example is the so-called Harvard mouse. The name comes from the research animal developed by Harvard University in 1985 that gets cancer four times faster than the ordinary mouse and is therefore more prized for medical research.

Recently the Canadian Supreme Court ruled against the patenting of this mouse, a ruling hailed by the Canadian Council of Churches. Though it may seem merely a biotech question, Professor Lind sees the matter as having spiritual significance as well.

Herman Browne spoke of his main priority as a leader in his church. “None of us is satisfied,” he said, “for the Gospel to be merely heard; it must also be felt.” The message must penetrate to the heart and be welcomed as a precious gift.

Another concern of Rev. Browne is the situation of Christians who are suffering under repressive regimes. How do the practice their faith when the government is persecuting them for their beliefs or when conditions in their country are chaotic? Unfortunately, the latter situation currently mars his native Liberia.

It would have been welcome to have heard the discussions at the general meeting of all the delegates from some 20 countries. However, I felt grateful for the opportunity to listen to the views of a cross section.

What jumped out at me from the luncheon was the view of the United States as insular, not well enough informed about other countries. The religious figures I talked with worry about Americans using so much of the world’s resources and not caring enough about the effects of their habits on the people of other nations.

One of them shared his view that “churches are a kind of media.” As he sees it, the churches often give Americans more access to people of other countries and their real concerns than do the news media. Our lunch discussion serves as one small instance of this reality.

Richard Griffin