Retiring Bishop John Ashby wrote his farewell [TLC, Dec. 25], and the time has now come for me to do the same - to the editors, staff and readers of TLC, past and present, for whom I have written for 32 years, the last 26 as Washington correspondent.

My work for the magazine, under four successive editors, began in the turbulent '60s, during the traumas of prayer book revision and ordination of women, and has continued through the controversies of the '70s and '80s and into the '90s, in all of which the goal was to be accurate, objective and fair, whatever my own position. And though I hope to write from time to time, as the occasion arises, it now seems meet and right that the responsibilities of correspondent be passed on to someone else.

Beyond diocesan affairs and major happenings at Washington National Cathedral, coverage has encompassed myriad national and international events: General Conventions, ecumenical gatherings, consecrations, installations, English synods, a royal investiture, an archiepiscopal enthronement, a papal visitation, and three Lambeth conferences. And interviews with the leaders of Anglicanism worldwide.

These years have included far-reaching changes in the church, some heartening, some deeply disheartening. Yet withal, this vocation to religious journalism has been wonderfully rich and rewarding. So it is with grateful recollection and deep appreciation and good wishes to all those who helped make it possible, that I now conclude these endeavors.

DOROTHY MILLS PARKER Washington, D.C.