Want to make people nervous? Change something to which they have grown accustomed.

More than nearly anything else in life, people fear change - big changes, little changes, meaningless changes. They are all the same to some people.

The unfamiliar serves to make people uncomfortable, especially when they do not have any warning.

Well, we don't want to make anyone sweat but readers may have noticed a change or two recently. And here is your warning that more are on the horizon.

Astute readers may have noticed some additional names in the paper in recent months as we have added to our news staff. With that has come more coverage of the eastern portion of Lawrence County.

In addition to mixing the expanded content into the overall paper throughout the week, readers likely saw that Wednesdays will feature an entire page packaged with nothing but news that affects our eastern readers.

The Eastern Tribune page will become a mainstay of our Wednesday editions and, at least for the time being, will be easily located on page 5. We hope to show our current readers and potential customers that we're the best at informing and entertaining Lawrence County readers.

But, fear not, this does not mean we will be forsaking our Ironton-area and rural readers either. In fact we have at least one more major change that we hope will appeal to all of our readers - and you won't have to wait long to see it either.

On Friday, we will launch our expanded Church page. In the past, one page was published on Fridays to highlight upcoming events at area churches. It also provided a directory of churches and services that span the entire county.

All this will still be offered, but we are adding much more. Key components will include the Faith & Family feature article that was previously on the front page, expanded local and national news items of interest to the faithful.

One of the big additions will be a rotating column by a guest pastor from the community. We hope to get as many pastors as possible from as many denominations involved.

Our premiere guest author will be Daryl G. Fourman, pastor of Chesapeake United Methodist Church for the past three years. We believe Mr. Fourman will be the first of many great writers who will talk about faith-based issues in a light, refreshing way.

We need more pastors to step up and commit to providing us a column one week out of the year. Please urge your pastor to do so. Consider this page in the newspaper to be an expanded pulpit with a congregation of thousands and thousands of people.

Will we all agree with a particular viewpoint or thought? Of course not, and we shouldn't, but we may learn something in the process.

We hope these two changes don't make anyone nervous. Our belief is that we are continuing our dedication to providing Lawrence County a newspaper it can truly call its own, with a unique voice and an identity.

In life, change is inevitable. In the newspaper business, we hope change will be enjoyable.

Michael Caldwell is the managing editor at The Ironton Tribune. To reach Mike call (740) 532-1445 ext. 24 or by e-mail at mike.caldwell@irontontribune.com.