Five years ago from the date of this issue, I came to THE LIVING CHURCH as editor and general manager. Being a follower of veteran philosopher Al McGuire, whom basketball fans may recognize as a onetime successful coach and now an occasional TV analyst, five years is an important anniversary. To paraphrase Coach McGuire, people should assess their situation every five years; it may be time to do something else. I have followed that practice religiously, and have wound up leaving my last three jobs almost five years to the day I started.

This time, circumstances seem to be different. Upon reflection, I have come to the conclusion there's still work to do. Our staff has made considerable changes and improvements in the magazine, and I believe there remains a great deal to accomplish. So, perhaps much to the dismay of some readers, I expect be around for awhile.

While thinking about those five years, lots of observations popped into my brain. After reading nearly every diocesan newspaper as well as Anglican papers from Australia, Canada, England and South Africa, countless parish newsletters, reams of materials from national church headquarters, letters and other correspondence from readers in every diocese, and hundreds of manuscripts, I feel somewhat qualified, even though nobody asked me, to make some observations:

• There is a sizable portion of this church which is concerned only about the local church. Call them congregationalists if you will, but they couldn't care less what goes on in their diocese, with the national church, or in the Anglican Communion. This body is growing steadily.
• The Ellen Cooke scandal united the Episcopal Church more than anything else in the last 25 years. Everyone from the Bishop of Newark to Episcopalians United seems to be expressing the same opinion. When is the last time that happened?
• Amid all the calls for inclusivity, the Episcopal Church is less tolerant than it's ever been. If people don't agree with us, we wish them godspeed.
• The stalemate in both houses of General Convention over the issues of blessing of same-sex relationships and ordination of practicing homosexuals probably is irreconcilable. The concept of two churches discussed by Bishop John MacNaughton [TLC, May 7] is right on target.
• Nothing gets the readership of this magazine to respond like a factual error on our pages. There are plenty of readers who take great delight in spotting a mistake in TLC, and for them we give thanks. Keep those cards and letters coming, for they help us produce a better magazine.

Al McGuire had another philosophy of life of which I wanted no part. That is, following graduation from college, everyone should spend six months as a bartender and six months as a taxi driver before entering the real world. I like his five-year plan better.

DAVID KALVELAGE, editor