For Immediate Release
April 5, 2008
Contact Shirley Struchen, (212) 870-2402, sstruchen@rcn.com
Martin Marty receives special award from Religion Communicators Council
CHANTILLY, Va.?One of America?s foremost interpreters of faith in public life was honored today by the Religion Communicators Council.
The Rev. Martin E. Marty, emeritus professor of religious history at the University of Chicago and longtime columnist for The Christian Century, received a special Wilbur Award for promoting open and appropriate public discourse on religion.
?In the second half of the 20th century, no name was more recognized in the field of religion than Dr. Marty?s, and few have contributed as much through writings and commentary to the public discourse of religion,? said council president Philip Poole during the presentation. ?For 35 years he taught at the University of Chicago divinity school, where his legacy continues through the Martin Marty Center to promote public religion endeavors.?
Marty is only the sixth person in the 60-year history of the Wilbur Awards to receive special recognition. Others were President and First Lady Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter, journalist Bill Moyers, filmmaker Ken Wales, and children?s TV host Fred Rogers.
The Wilbur Awards, begun in 1949, are named for Marvin C. Wilbur, a pioneer in religion public relations. The council, oldest public relations association in the United States, gives the awards annually to secular journalists, authors, broadcasters and film producers for outstanding work addressing religious issues, themes and values.
The council presented 11 other Wilbur Awards for work completed in 2007 during a banquet closing its 79th annual convention. Winners included The Wall Street Journal, CBS News, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and producers of the feature film Amazing Grace.
Marty, a Lutheran pastor since 1952, is author of more than 50 books on religion in America. He?s been a columnist for The Christian Century since 1956 and is editor of Context, a semimonthly newsletter on religion and culture. He was one of the primary authors of the Fundamentalism Project for the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
For more information about Wilbur Awards and the Religion Communicators Council, visit www.religioncommunicators.org.
For more information about Marty, visit www.illuminos.com/index.html.
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Religion Communicators Council
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www.religioncommunicators.org