THE New York Times once epitomised all that was great about American newspapers; now it symbolises its industry’s deep malaise. The Grey Lady’s circulation is tumbling, down another 3.9% in the latest data from America’s Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC). Its advertising revenues are down, too (12.5% lower in March than a year earlier), as is the share price of its owner, the New York Times Company, up from its January low but still over 20% below what it was last July. On Tuesday April 29th Standard & Poor’s cut the firm’s debt rating to one notch above junk.

At the company’s annual meeting a week earlier, its embattled publisher, Arthur “Pinch” Sulzberger, attempted to quash rumours that his family is preparing to jettison the firm it has owned since 1896. Carnage is expected soon as dozens of what were once the safest jobs in journalism are axed, since too few of the staff have accepted a generous offer of voluntary redundancy.

Pick almost any American newspaper company and you can tell a similar story.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Media

Two United Methodist women from Chicago exchanged vows Friday in a park near the Fort Worth Convention Center where this week delegates at an international conference affirmed the church's stance that the practice of homosexuality is not biblical.

With a procession of about 200 supporters, Julie Bruno and Susan Laurie walked from the convention center to General Worth Square, singing This Little Light of Mine. Their ceremony was performed by a lay person from New York, although some clergy were in the crowd and applauded. Audience members also spoke a blessing of the union.

The event symbolized some of the deepest divisions that remain unresolved at the end of the 10-day General Conference of the United Methodist Church. Nearly 1,000 delegates representing more than 11 million people gathered to address denomination concerns and social issues.

Bishop Ben Chamness of the 28-county Central Texas Conference said there was "a great spirit of holy conferencing ... by people with different views."

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Filed under: * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Methodist

Read it carefully and read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori • TEC Conflicts • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • Pope Benedict XVI

"The emphasis is totally on this one ethical dimension of our faith. ... That's important..."

Note carefully the quote above from yours truly in the article cited, in which I agree about the importance of stewardship of the environment with the Presiding Bishop. But the analysis of the Anglican Scotist cites me as saying something I did not say. This typifies the pattern of talking by one another which continues apace in far too many instances in the current TEC.

I continute to insist that there needs to be far more self-criticism in the current environment, and when criticism of those who differ with us is attempted, it needs to reflect the arguments which it is seeking to refute accurately and fairly--KSH.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori • * Economics, Politics • Energy, Natural Resources

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Education • Science & Technology

ii. In this regard, we reiterate the resolution of Anglican Consultative Council, Hong Kong, August 2002 in response to Archbishop George Carey’s urging that dioceses “that are considering matters of faith and doctrine that could affect the unity of the Communion to consult widely in their provinces, and beyond before final decisions are made or action is taken.”

iii. We affirm the importance of showing concern and regard to the rest of the Communion.

2. We, however, out rightly condemn and reject the unacceptable action of some of the members of the Communion in the blessing and formal acceptance of same-sex marriages and relationships, the appointment, election and ordination to ecclesiastical offices of those persons who openly admit and declare that they are homosexuals and lesbians (cf Romans 1:26-27). That such practices of some of the members of our Communion do exist and that they are to be treated pastorally, we deny not. However, that they be given official recognition and acceptance by the Church of God as a standard form of life is quite another stand which we cannot and dare not accept.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Primary Source • -- Reports & Communiques • Anglican Provinces • Anglican Province of West Africa • * Theology • Ecclesiology

The Episcopal Church, a Protestant denomination, has faced internal strife in recent years over the ordination of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire and the debate over blessings of same sex couples.

Some congregations around the country have broken off because of the debate, but none in Maine, Lane said.

"Many in the church have agreed to disagree," Lane said. "It's sort of there in the background, but my own sense is that most Episcopalians are proud to be part of a church where everyone is welcome."

More pressing in Maine, he said, will be encouraging congregations to be more actively involved in ministering to their communities, from providing food and other essentials to the needy to reaching out to college communities.

"This is really a key issue for the future of the church," Lane said.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops

Over the past year, Jefferts Schori and Iker have exchanged letters about Fort Worth's vote to leave last November and the Episcopal head has continued to emphasize the possibility of reconciliation between Iker, the diocese and the wider Episcopal Church, according to the Rev. Dr. Charles K. Robertson, the Episcopal presiding bishop's canon.

Iker said otherwise in his letter this week.

"There are no efforts at reconciliation proceeding within this province, which is one reason why faithful people continue to leave TEC (The Episcopal Church) in droves," he said.

Venables is scheduled to meet with clergy from the Diocese of Fort Worth on Friday and attend a diocesan convocation Saturday. He will be a guest preacher at two local churches Sunday.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Conflicts • TEC Conflicts: Fort Worth

"I want to be known as a good bishop, not a gay bishop," said Bishop Gene Robinson. But so far, at least to most of the world, that hasn't happened. He's known as the homosexual man whose controversial election as the bishop of New Hampshire threatens to split the Episcopal Church into two denominations.

"A wide variety of the media typecasts me as a one-issue person, but if I were just a one-issue person, why would the people of New Hampshire want me [as their leader]?" he said in an interview. "I hope to open people's eyes to a much broader vision of me."

To that end, he has written a book, "In the Eye of the Storm" (Church Publishing, $25), which, as coincidence would have it, is hitting bookstores the same time as another book about a gay Episcopal bishop. In "The Bishop's Daughter" (W.W. Norton, $25.95), poet and author Honor Moore writes about her relationship with her late father, Bishop Paul Moore Jr., who spent 17 years as the bishop of New York without the public knowing that he was bisexual.

Both books paint portraits of men who worried that the titillating aspects of their private lives would have a negative impact on their lifelong work on a vast range of social and theological issues.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Conflicts

When the Rev. David Cannon, the priest-in-charge of Bishop Seabury Church in Groton, showed up to start his job two weeks ago, he walked around the outside of the building, trying every door. All locked.

He could hear people moving around inside, so he knocked. No answer.

Eventually, Cannon found his way to the office building, adjacent to the church, where he called out for the Rev. Ronald Gauss, who still heads the parish in defiance of Episcopal officials. The two men have known each other for many years — were on friendly terms, even — and Gauss knew why Cannon was there, but that didn't make this any easier.

Cannon was there to take over Gauss' church — and Gauss was having none of it.

"I wanted access to the church. I wanted the books, the keys, the right to celebrate communion there," Cannon said. "I asked not once, not twice, but three times. I was refused all three times."

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Conflicts • TEC Conflicts: Connecticut

The Rev. Canon Stephen Taylor Lane believes that he will begin the "grand adventure" of a lifetime today when he becomes the spiritual leader of the state’s 17,000 Episcopalians.

Members of Lane’s new flock will gather at St. Luke’s Cathedral today to participate in his consecration as the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maine.

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefforts Schori, the presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church, will lead the event. The Rt. Rev. Chilton Knudsen, bishop of the Maine diocese, will participate in the service that is expected to be similar to the one held in the same church a decade ago when she became the diocese’s first woman bishop.

Technically, Lane, 58, will be the bishop coadjutor until his installation in September when Knudsen, 61, will retire. He and his wife, Gretchen, a high school science teacher, live in Portland and have three grown children, who are scheduled to attend today’s consecration.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Aging / the Elderly • * Economics, Politics • Economy

Alicia Shay has had a steady stream of visitors to the Flagstaff, Ariz., home that she and Ryan moved into a year ago. Her former Stanford teammates have come to train with her, including Lauren Fleshman, the 2006 U.S. 5,000 champion. Ryan Hall, the Olympic trials marathon champion, and his wife, Sara, stayed with Shay in January. Her parents and two sisters have been regular visitors.

"I was amazed being there seeing first-hand how she deals with Ryan's death day to day," says Sara Hall, who was a bridesmaid in the Shays' wedding. "She told me before that God was meeting her every need each day. To actually be there and see that was incredible. Her faith is very real."

So is the pain that can surface suddenly. "All day I have thoughts and memories of Ryan and us moving into my mind," says Shay, who hosted an Easter brunch for 35 that included many runners. "When I'm not with people I can let down with, I'm constantly overriding and repressing those thoughts, memories and emotions. That's when a small thing can set me off and it all comes crashing down.

"A lot of times at night, it really gets hard. You lay there and there's nothing to distract you. Sometimes If I can say it out loud, I can move on. Or I cry and five minutes later, I can handle the rest of the day."

Elizabeth caught this one in yesterday's USA Today--read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Sports

Erik Youngdahl and Michelle Garcia share a dorm room at Connecticut's Wesleyan University. But they say there's no funny business going on. Really. They mean it.

They have set up their beds side-by-side like Lucy and Ricky in "I Love Lucy," and avert their eyes when one of them is changing clothes.

"People are shocked to hear that it's happening and even that it's possible," said Youngdahl, a 20-year-old sophomore. But "once you actually live in it, it doesn't actually turn into a big deal."

In the prim 1950s, college dorms were off-limits to members of the opposite sex. Then came the 1970s, when male and female students started crossing paths in coed dormitories. Now, to the astonishment of some Baby Boomer parents, a growing number of colleges are going even further: coed rooms.

At least two dozen schools, including Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania, Oberlin College, Clark University and the California Institute of Technology, allow some or all students to share a room with anyone they choose — including someone of the opposite sex. This spring, as students sign up for next year's room, more schools are following suit, including Stanford University.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Education

More Charleston area troops are making their way home from extended overseas deployments in the war.

Twenty-six members of the South Carolina National Guard's 218th Brigade Combat Team who served in Afghanistan arrived Thursday in North Charleston.

A contracted airline's bankruptcy last month prevented hundreds of soldiers from getting home on time.

One of them was Capt. Trae Redmond III, who was among the group that arrived about 5 p.m. Thursday at the National Guard Armory on Cross County Road. He left in January 2007 and his son, Grady, was born the next month.

"We got through it," Redmond's wife, Jennifer, said Friday evening as her husband bathed their son at their North Charleston home.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Military / Armed Forces • * South Carolina

I watched it live streaming on Italian TV but couldn't ever find any audio accessible in the U.S. It will be interesting to see if they can successfully defend the title with only about one week to go in the season.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Sports