So I was talking to my wonderful mom last night and she mentioned an article about the Episcopal Church she read in “the newspaper” that had a notable error. I asked her which paper (Denver has two papers and they also subscribe to or receive other local papers) and she didn’t remember. Neither did she remember what day it ran or who wrote it. I asked her if she remembered that I write about the problems mainstream media reporters have with writing about religion. She did and said she meant to mention it to me earlier. So this is just a reminder to my mom and all other readers that we love it when you point out good and bad articles you read or segments you watch or listen to. Within a few hours or days at most.
Strange Episcopal language of the week
For those still watching the Anglican wars, there is a crucial story unfolding down in Charleston, S.C., where conservative Episcopalians in the Diocese of South Carolina are waiting to see if the man they elected as bishop — Father Mark Lawrence — can be consecrated.
Explaining the Episcopalians
I thought that I would, for obvious reasons, let the whole Anglican warfare thing rest for a few days. However, all good things must come to an end.
In their own words
We tend to look at mainstream media religion reporters rather than mainstream media religion columnists, but there’s a new religion column in the San Francisco Chronicle that’s worth a look. David Ian Miller writes the column and he came to religion coverage quite recently, after covering city hall, personal finances and technology news. He decided to interview one person each week about their religion.
Keeping religion under wraps
Amazing Grace, an overdue tribute to British abolitionist William Wilberforce, opens nationwide today. The film is well worth seeing, particularly if you’re unfamiliar with the Wilberforce story. Like with almost every movie I see, I had some artistic quibbles with it. (And I’m not snooty: I’m hoping to see Reno 911 tonight.) But most surprising to me was how little religion was included in a movie about someone so religiously influenced. Charlotte Allen, who has the same problem, reviewed the film for The Wall Street Journal:
Disco, disco Mass!
When I was on the religion beat, one of the questions that leaders in a wide variety of religious groups used to ask me went something like this: “Why do the (insert colorful word here) Episcopalians get so much coverage in the mainstream media?”
Episcopalians in the dock (day two)
We are now in day two of the post-Dar es Salaam world and the focus is moving — as it should in U.S. newspapers — back to the local and national angles of this global Anglican crisis.
Hey, Time! Smell the incense
A long, long time ago, I remember a comment that a city-desk editor made when reporters started using the really early laptop computers (photo) to cover live news events. Everyone was excited because this was going to streamline the shipping of stories back to the newsroom, making it possible for reporters to write closer to deadline on breaking stories.
To dust you will return
I always get a kick out of the way my friends and colleagues celebrate Mardi Gras with a fervor not seen since before the Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus. But mere hours later the liturgical calendar is forgotten. These devout observers of Shrove Tuesday can be heard telling the Christians they have “dirt on your forehead.”
