Judges made awards in 59 categories for work done in 2006 in the religious press. ACP members sent in more than 1,250 entries.

The Toronto-based Anglican Journal won first place for "Best in Class: National or International Newspaper," followed by Episcopal Life. The Christian Chronicle and Mennonite Weekly Review were tied for third place. Cathedral Age, the magazine of the Washington National Cathedral, was also a "Best in Class" winner. It earned second place in its class: special interest magazine.

The annual convention, attended by 120 members representing some of the several hundred publications in ACP, welcomed the Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor, author and Episcopal priest, as one of the convention speakers. She signed copies of her latest book, "Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith."

Keynote speaker for the four-day convention was Barbara Rossing, Lutheran minister and professor of New Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. She told the gathering that whatever the future electronic gadgetry, a communicator's mission will still be about storytelling. Other key speakers were the Rev. Martin Marty and veteran journalist Don Wycliff.

'Consistently high grade'
In making the Best in Class Award to Episcopal Life, judges said "the staff writing is consistently of a high grade, as in Nan Cobbey's September lead article about Katharine Jefferts Schori. Congratulations to the staff for 'doing something a bit risky: relying on our readers to be the storytellers and challengers.' The Active Voice section is inspired and no doubt a favorite of readers. Each issue shows artistic flair on the front page."

Episcopal Life won two other top awards, first place for news story and first place for a critical review. The news story, Herb Gunn's report "High drama in response" from last summer's General Convention, earned this praise from the judge: "Beyond the sound bites and sloganeering of the Episcopalians' deadlock over sexuality issues, this report gives readers a bigger, behind-the-scenes slice of the politics and anxieties of assembly resolutions that could make or break a denomination. The narrative is expansive, often stylish, showing a command of the issues and personalities. The quotes are generous, humanizing the voices of left and right, showing the nuances of an anguished debate." Gunn, editor of the Diocese of Michigan's newspaper The Record, joined the Episcopal Life staff to cover the General Convention.

The critical review was actually a package of articles and illustrations about The Chronicles of Narnia written by Martha Baker and Leonard Freeman and designed by Jerry Fargo. It was titled "A satisfying fantasy." The judges wrote: "This package of the movie version of C. S. Lewis' "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" did may things well, not the least of which was design. The pieces of the package separated criticism [from] the theology behind Lewis' masterpiece, and didn't fail to point out Lewis' warts. Anyone who can use 'rodentia' and bring a reader a chuckle doing it knows how to write."

Episcopal Life also won four third place awards. An award for an opinion piece went to writer Pamela Long for "Bicultural bonanza." Judges wrote: "excellent historical background used to address current situation with Hispanic ministry."

The award for in-depth coverage went to Nan Cobbey for her profile of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, "A confident reconciler," and to Sharon Sheridan for her accompanying article about Dick Schori, "Taking care of details." The judges wrote: "A very well written and insightful set of stories. These really help to put the bishop in a human light, to help people see she is more than just a person with a new title. Great lead for the story."

The awards for newspaper front page and for overall newspaper design went to designer Jerry Fargo. Judges wrote: "Nice photo montage. The use of color on this page makes it livelier. Very positive, upbeat images, color, type and overall presentation ... overall, easy to navigate and very clean and readable."

Other Episcopal Church publications to earn awards were the Central Florida Episcopalian (second place for newspaper front page and third place for newspaper design), Cathedral Age (second place for magazine design in addition to its best in class award) and the Net, the newspaper of the Diocese of Southeastern Florida (third place for photography with article). The Anglican Journal won five awards in addition to its first place best in class award (second place for feature story, for letters to the editor and for newspaper design and third place for its media review section and for illustration with article.)

A full list of winners in all categories is available here.

Leadership elected
At the annual business meeting, members elected a new president: Terry DeYoung, managing editor of The Church Herald, denominational magazine of the Reformed Church in America, will succeed Jerry Van Marter, director of Presbyterian News Service. Vice President will be Cynthia B. Astle, editor of the e-publication United Methodist NeXus.

Members also unanimously approved holding the 2009 convention concurrently with the Evangelical Press Association. The two groups have held concurrent meetings in the past and conduct a popular series of professional development seminars every fall.

The 2009 gathering will give the two organizations greater leverage in attracting speakers and workshop leaders, and will help keep hotel and meeting costs low. Members expect to benefit by hearing about church-communications issues from fresh perspectives.

The 2008 convention will be held April 13-16 in Dallas-Fort Worth.

ACP, at 91, is the oldest ecumenical Christian press organization in North America, made up of almost 200 publications, editors and writers.