Most of us are familiar with the motto of the U.S. Postal Service: “Neither rain, nor sleet, nor heat of day, nor dark of night shall keep this carrier from the swift completion of his appointed rounds.” While the weather may not be a deterrent to mail delivery, newly passed postal regulations are having a profound impact on The Christian Chronicle. We were shocked recently to learn that as of May 14 new postal rates — initiated and implemented nationwide in only 57 days — mean a whopping $5,605 monthly increase in our postage costs. Because of Omnibus Rate Case R2006-1, almost overnight, the postage rate for the Chronicle has skyrocketed to an annual total of about $260,000! That is a 33 percent hike. As most of you know, rather than mailing the Chronicle in bundles, the paper is mailed to individual homes monthly. This service has never been cheap, and now it costs more — a whole lot more. Truthfully, this is a discouragement to all of us.We began immediately to look for ways to offset the enormous postage increase. After many hours of prayer, discussions and research, we want to share with you as our readers what we anticipate will happen.

The only way to avoid this huge additional expense is to change the size of the newspaper so that it qualifies for what is called a letter rate, which gives us a more favorable postage rate. Our new page size will be 2 inches shorter. The change may occur as early as the August issue.While we wish this change were not necessary, we see no other viable alternative at this point, because we intend to continue being careful stewards of the funds for this ministry.Most aspects of the paper will stay the same, but with some necessary formatting changes. The front page likely will reflect the most change because of regulations governing the class of mail, placement and size of the address label. Otherwise, the front page will look much as it does now. Because we will lose space on the inside of the paper, we will no longer be able to print obituaries. We hope at a later date to add four pages to our current 36. Advertising still will be available in a range of sizes from full-page color to one-sixteenth of a page black and white.Most importantly, The Christian Chronicle will continue to report the happenings of our diversified fellowship in a way that attempts to inform, inspire and unite.

We will continue to offer relevant stories about the critical issues of our time, stories of faith and courage, and the thrilling accounts of God's mighty work among the nations. And we will continue to appear in home mailboxes every month.Time and again, your feedback about the purpose, scope and quality of this newspaper has been overwhelmingly positive. Through the years, you have given strong financial support to make this newspaper possible for some 200,000 readers in all 50 states. Some 11,000 of you regularly respond to our periodic requests for monetary assistance.There is absolutely no question — we could not do this work without you. This changeover is neither free nor inexpensive. Already, we must pay $11,400 in additional postage for the June and July issues. There also are significant expenses in redesigning our pages to fit the new size requirements. Additionally, we will pay $1,500 per issue to cut down the present size paper, already in stock, until the printer can locate the correct size newsprint for the new design. Nevertheless, these costs and changes are necessary to maintain the quality and scope of this publication.

While the present challenge is far from over, we want to assure you that we intend to continue being careful stewards of the resources that the Lord provides, so please pray that the Lord will continue to enable this paper to serve as a tool for his good purposes. And we thank you, Chronicle readers, for your financial generosity both now and in the future. It is deeply appreciated and so essential to our continuation.

LYNN McMILLON is editor, president and CEO of The Christian Chronicle.