Episcopalians to debate gay bishop issue
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FOR THE MEDIA, June in Columbus, Ohio, will be all about sex.

It's not that an epidemic of lust has broken out in the home of the Ohio State Buckeyes. It's that thousands of Episcopalians (myself included) will be converging there to debate an agenda that includes two key words: gay bishops.

Three years after the church consented to its first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the Episcopal Church and the rest of the worldwide Anglican Communion stand on the precipice of schism.

I don't blame the media for focusing on issues of human sexuality. With debate raging over a constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage, the boundary-pushing Episcopalians will put on a fascinating, timely show.

But for me personally as an Episcopalian, and as the editor of the Diocese of Virginia's daily convention newspaper, the coming media coverage will be an interesting test.

Will the media capture the nuances of the conversations in Columbus, or just the sexy bottom lines? Will all those "non-sexy" issues, like Millennium Development Goals and strategies for church growth--issues that matter more to some folks in the pews than gay bishops--receive any coverage? the rest