We need to clear up a misunderstanding. This is not an editorial. It is a column, a common feature of newspapers and magazines in which the author may express a personal opinion. If an opinion is expressed, it is the individual point of view of the writer, not the publisher, or the people in control of the publication. In this magazine, the executive editor usually, but not always, writes the column. Editorials appear elsewhere in TLC. They are clearly labeled as editorials and usually express an opinion which is more like a policy statement.

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In his final diocesan convention address before retiring, the Rt. Rev. Martin G. Townsend, Bishop of Easton, told an amusing story. It was the day after he was consecrated, and he was making his first visitation, to St. Paul's Church, Marion Station, Md.

"My crozier with the three trout leaping from the top of the staff did not yet have a case as I carried it from my car," Bishop Townsend recalled. "As I neared the parish hall, a little girl ran ahead of me crying, 'Daddy, Daddy, the bishop is here but it looks as if he is going fishing'."

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Another good tale came from the Diocese of Quincy where the Rt. Rev. Keith Ackerman related the following in his diocesan convention address:

"Years ago I was in the city of Jerusalem walking in the Armenian Quarter. I was looking for a man whom I knew, who was the choir director of the Armenian seminary. I asked a young woman who passed by if she knew my friend, and she told me that he was her godfather! She led me to his apartment but he was not at home. She then invited me to the apartment where she and her husband lived along with her parents. As soon as her parents opened the door, I was taken to the dining room table and placed in the seat of honor, where a virtual banquet was set before me. Once I regained my composure I asked them how a total stranger to them could be greeted with such love. They told me that Armenia was the first Christian nation, and that this privilege carried with it the obligation of receiving all people as God's gift. They told me that they must receive people as Christ himself, for they know that Christ would return, but did not necessarily know what he would look like."

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Headline spotted in Advance, newspaper of the Diocese of Chicago: "Bishops suitable for hanging."

"Would you like to hang our bishops?," the article begins. An explanation is in order. The diocesan communications office produced diocesan liturgical calendars featuring a photo of Bishops William Persell and Victor Scantlebury.

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Driving in the Diocese of Western Louisiana must be an adventure. The Rt. Rev. Robert Hargrove, bishop of that diocese, who once reported hitting a bobcat with his car, indicates in his diary in the diocesan newspaper Alive that he recently struck two deer with his car while driving near Shreveport.

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A clever acronym being tossed around is generally credited to Carol Nix of St. Matthew's Church, Austin, Texas. She notes the Anglican Mission in America is abbreviated as AMiA and observes it also could stand for "Anglicans Missing in Action."

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The license plate watch: My spottings include RO12 12, AMOR DEO, JSUS SAVD, EPH2 8 and JESUS 20. The Rev. McAlister C. Marshall, ever vigilant observer in Bowling Green, Va., submitted W8N 4GOD. And it is reported that the Rt. Rev. Dorsey F. Henderson, Jr., has a license tag which reads MITER 7.

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Note to Frank in Houston: I don't think the rest of the church is ready to buy into what's happening in the Diocese of Texas, although most Episcopalians ought to take a look. Episcopalians are slow to adopt evangelism and certainly hesitant about referring to their churches as "missionary outposts."

David Kalvelage, executive editor