By LEAH WEATHERSBY

Three years ago, representatives of several religious groups around Seattle had an idea: get people together on New Year's Eve to pray for peace around the world. On the New Year's Eve of the new millennium, several hundred people gathered at Green Lake to do just that.

Now, as the year 2001 draws to a close, the need for those of different faiths to reach out to one another for understanding is more critical than ever.

The organizers of the Green Lake event, now known as the Walking Meditation for Peace, hope that their two-hour long evening program of prayer, meditation, chanting and drumming will attract more people than ever before. Attendees are asked to carry candles as they walk, petitioning a higher power for harmony on the continents of Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Africa, Australia and Antarctica.

Madison Park resident David "Sky" Enroth, the Seattle area coordinator for a group called the United Religious Initiative, said he hopes that 4,000 people will attend this year - that would be enough, he said, to circle the entire lake.

"Green Lake is a globe symbolically, said Enroth of his reasons for choosing that site for the event. "As we walk from praying station to praying station giving prayers of seven faith traditions to the seven continents, we will make an expression of the yearning of each human heart for peace in this home we call Earth."

Enroth is one of the main organizers of the walk along with Haller Lake resident Donna Ramos of the Stillpoint Center for Spirituality on Capitol Hill, Liz Ellman, a partner in SoulTenders, a First Hill group which focuses on spirituality in the work place, and Jamal Rahman, a minister, and Phinney Ridge resident Karen Lindquist, interfaith program coordinator with the Interfaith Community Church in Ballard.

Rahman, a Muslim, shares the position of minister in the Interfaith Community Church with the Rev. Debra Lajimodiere, a Native American and Catholic who lives in the Maple Leaf neighborhood. The church, whose members believe that studying religions other than their own can make them better practitioners of their own faith, holds services which include many different traditions. According to Rahman, there may be good reason to believe that world peace starts with events like this one.

"As a Christian mystic said, their can be no peace among nations unless there is peace among religions," Rahman said.

The Walking Meditation for Peace will take place from 5-7 p.m on Dec. 31. It will begin at 7201 East Green Lake Dr. N, near the swimming pool. Prayers will be led by representatives of several different religions including Jelong Nyima Choedhar and Jelong Shimey Tendzincher of the (Buddhist) Sakya Monastery in Greenwood, Joyce Cox of the Catholic Archdiocese, Debra Lajimodiere, co-minister of the Interfaith Community Church (who will lead Native American prayers), Min-Amah Karim of the Muslim American Society and Jamal Rahman of the Interfaith Community Church. Other speakers, including representatives of Hinduism, Judaism and the Sikh religion, are still to be confirmed. In case you're still the mood for chanting, prayers and meditation after that, the Interfaith Community Church (located at 1763 NW 62nd St.) will host a New Year's Eve gathering starting at 8 p.m. Admission is free but donations will be accepted.

For more information, call the Interfaith Community Church at 783-1618. b