wfn.org | Episcopal/Anglican publications honored with awards from Associated Church Press

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2001-104

Episcopal/Anglican publications honored with awards from Associated Church Press 

by James Solheim
jsolheim@episcopalchurch.org

     (ENS) At its annual meeting in Minneapolis, April 22-25, the Associated Church Press 
(ACP) honored Episcopal and Anglican publications with some of its highest awards for their 
work in the last year.

     ACP is an 85-year-old professional organization with about 175 members. Its 
publications have a combined circulation of 28 million in the United States and Canada.

     In the "Best in Class" category, the top Award of Excellence for regional newspapers 
was given to Anglican Advance, edited by David Skidmore in the Diocese of Chicago. The 
judges cited the paper's combination of "superb graphics, layout and photography, with 
strong story selection and writing."

     The Anglican Journal, published by the Anglican Church of Canada and edited by Sam 
Carriere, received the Award of Merit (second place) for national and international 
newspapers and Episcopal Life, edited by Jerry Hames, received an honorable mention.

     The Witness, edited by Julie Wortman, received the Award of Excellence for special 
interest magazines, and Hi-Lites, edited by Norman Carr, received the Award of Excellence 
for newsletters. Episcopal News Service, edited by Jim Solheim and Jan Nunley, received the 
Award of Merit for news services.

     Episcopal Life received other top awards, including Awards of Excellence for 
editorials, feature articles, theme issue and an Award of Merit for newspaper graphics 
(Jerry Fargo) and for circulation campaign (Mary Beth Weiss), as well as several honorable 
mentions.

     In the category for regional newspapers, former editor Debra Wagner picked up an Award 
of Excellence for The Episcopal New Yorker for a first person account of a street preacher, 
another for professional resources, an Award of Merit for humor and also for a column

     Chicago's Anglican Advance received the top award for newspaper front page and Hi-
Lites received one for newsletter graphics.

     The Witness received an Award of Excellence for theme issue and also for first person 
account, for its critical review section and for color magazine covers. Anglican Journal 
received an Award of Merit for a special 16-page section on abuse of indigenous children in 
residential schools operated by the church in Canada.

     Episcopal News Service received the Award of Excellence for a photo of a Palestinian 
youth by Jim Solheim.

     (A complete list of winners is available at www.theacp.org.) 

Power of the media

     Adults in American society are being put in the awkward position of trying to 
understand how youth are being shaped by the very pervasive media in their everyday lives, 
said Beth Zeilinger of the National Institute on Media and the Family in her keynote 
address.

     She warned that most of us "underestimate the power of the media every single day," 
citing studies that show school-age children are spending an average of 24 hours a week 
watching television and another seven hours with media games, but only three hours 
interacting with parents and four hours on homework.

     The real power of the media, she argued, is its "ability to reestablish our norms, 
reshaping what is acceptable," adding that "whoever tells the story defines the culture--
and mass media is the most effective storyteller ever." Yet it is often in direct conflict 
with the values of the family and community, she observed.

     She urged church-related media to help their readers to join a "media wise movement," 
using resources available to make informed choices about what families watch. The institute 
is part of that movement, she said, seeking to educate and inform the public and encourage 
practices and policies that promote positive change in the production and use of mass 
media.

A new handwritten and illuminated Bible

     The Rev. Eric Hollas of St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, described the 
decision by the Benedictine Community to commission the first handwritten, illuminated 
Bible of the modern era. The genesis of the idea emerged from sponsorship of calligraphy 
conferences in the 1980s.

     "We are not trying to create a 12th century Bible but one that will be contemporary, 
expressing the values of our own age, using contemporary themes," he said in his luncheon 
keynote.

     The actual work will be done at a scriptorium in Wales, under the supervision of the 
English calligrapher, Don Jackson, whose life ambition has been do produce a handwritten 
Bible. When it is finished it will be on display in a special gallery at St. John's but a 
"high end facsimile" will be reproduced.

     Hollas described how valuable computers have been in the actual design of the Bible, 
especially the layout, but the actual work utilizes medieval techniques. It will be written 
on vellum, using quills, natural handmade inks, hand-ground pigments and gold leaf. Yet it 
will use a modern English translation, the New Revised Standard Version. The Four Gospels 
and the Book of Acts are already completed, he said. He showed a dazzling set of slides to 
demonstrate the contemporary illustrations. The final Bible will have 76 full-page 
illustrations in its seven volumes. (For more information see www.saintjohnsbible.org.) 

     At a business meeting, the ACP elected Bob Terry of The Alabama Baptist to a three-
year term as president  and three new board members--Marguerite Rourk of Lutheran Southern 
Seminary in South Carolina; Victoria Rebeck of the United Methodist Publishing House in 
Tennessee; Terry DeYoung of the Reformed Church in America; and Linda Post Bushkofsky of 
the Presbyterian Church's Synod of Lakes and Prairies.

     Members also heard a brief report on the search for a new executive director in the 
wake of the resignation of Joe Roos.

--James Solheim is director of the Office of News and Information of the Episcopal Church.