Dear Anglicans Online readers,
This AO issue of 2 March 2014 is our first since the death of our muse and managing editor, Cynthia McFarland. If you didn't see the original announcement, that issue is here in our, um, repository of back issues. We're back from her Requiem Mass and burial and we have begun to plan what Anglicans Online is going to be like in a post-Cynthia world. She took charge of Anglicans Online in September 1997 and was its life force for 14 years until her death of cancer last month.
For as long as anyone can remember, the front page of Anglicans Online has been written in rotation by one of the front page writers. With Cynthia gone, we were down to just two writers. It is fortuitous that the sorts of people who traveled long distances to attend Cynthia's Requiem Mass in Philadelphia are in general the same sorts of people who care about the church and about Anglicans Online. And some of them are excellent writers. We began our recruiting pitch at the parish-hall reception after the Requiem Mass, and now we have four writers working in rotation. This is much better for you, because it provides more variety and more points of view. You can see our roster here.
We are always looking for volunteers to take on editing and updating chores. Parish links need to be checked and kept up to date. New parish websites need to be added to our listings. New dioceses sprout up, usually in Africa, and need to be added to the listings. If you find that kind of work to be enjoyable, as we do, talk to us about getting involved.
We want to call out a special thank-you to the Revd Sean Mullen of St Mark in Philadelphia, who presided over Cynthia's Requiem Mass; to the St Mark choir, who did a memorable job of singing The Requiem, Op. 9, by Maurice Duruflé; to the four bishops (former and current) of New Jersey who sat in the front row on the Gospel side and led the casket in procession; and to everyone who took the time to get there and be there.
The four people who served as pallbearers at the Requiem Mass and at the subsequent committal and burial are the four writers who now share the rotation for the AO front page. She always thought of us as her family, and that day, surrounded by incense and triumphant music, it became so.
You know that Cynthia would like nothing better than for all of you to keep reading Anglicans Online, keep writing Letters to the Editor, and to keep sending us suggestions for how to stay relevant.
As we like to say, 'See you next week'.
