"A Different Kind of Church Growth" by Jay Martin [TLC, Feb. 18] strikes me as one of the best pieces you've had in a long time. It should be copied and sent to every bishop in our church because it really speaks not to the small church, but the whole church. The paragraph beginning, "What if each day, the priest in this still small church, arose to say Morning Prayer and the Eucharist?" is the most succinct statement of Anglican theology and ecclesiology I have ever read.

Instead of all the hot issues, all the ones that push everyone's buttons, maybe we should take that one small paragraph and ask if we as Episcopalians understand and believe what is written there.

The most timely question for us is how do we view the Eucharist, the church, the communion of saints. Fr. Martin offers us a very orthodox view of some very important doctrines. My fear is not only we may not believe them, we don't even understand them. This would be tragic enough if it were true of the laity. The fact that it may well be true of a large portion of the clergy could explain why we are in trouble. If we understand and believe what Fr. Martin has written, it would cost us nothing to put it into practice. I for one am rethinking the daily routine of my parish church. I invite others to do the same.

(The Rev.) Terrence E. Johnson

St. Thomas' Church

North Syracuse, N.Y.