Episcopal Press and News
Church Press Hears Optimistic Words About the Future, Honors Episcopal Publications
Episcopal News Service. April 19, 1996 [96-1450]
(ENS) There was plenty of good news for Episcopal publications at the annual meeting of the Associated Church Press April 10-13. Not only did the warm sun in Phoenix thaw out journalists from the north, but the 100 participants also heard upbeat speeches from Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, an Episcopal bishop and a Reformed theologian who argued that mainline churches may have a bright future. And Episcopal publications walked off with some of the top awards.
Babbitt urged churches to get involved in environmental issues, citing God's covenant with Noah and "all living things on earth." He said that "we are still living between the flood and the rainbow, between threats to creation on the one side and God's covenant to protect life on the other."
Without a foundation of spiritual and moral values, "we cannot develop as responsible stewards of the land," Babbitt said in his keynote address. "We can assert and amplify our values, whether or not Congress wants to hear them." He urged the journalists to help "transcend the narrow partisan differences, which can only drive us back towards destruction, and instead uphold our moral obligation to be stewards of God's creation."
"Perhaps for the first time since the Fundamentalist-Modernist battles of the 1920s and 1930s, the center of the mainline is beginning to assert itself," Prof. Donald Luidens of Hope College in Michigan said in his presentation on a bright future for mainline churches.
Luidens based his optimism on what he and other colleagues perceive as "a revitalized sense of common purpose, a renewed sense of vocation." He pointed to several key "vital signs" as "harbingers of a brighter day ahead." He cited, in particular, a rediscovery of the Bible, contending that "mainline parishioners are reading Scripture with a new openness to possibilities," using an approach that is more personal and more relevant for their lives.
"Mainline theology is in the midst of changes of tectonic scale," Luidens said, largely the result of taking a fresh look at "historic formulations of Christian faith while generating a wealth of new theological, sociological and psychological insights."
While acknowledging that most studies show a "well-documented fragmentation," Luidens is convinced that "mainline Protestantism is richly blessed with thousands of congregations which are undergoing localized renewal." He added, "The first step in the mainline's renewal is to capture and foster the excitement building in local congregations. While the message in many denominations has been one of decline and dismay, the front line has made significant strides."
The shift from "national to local agendas" sometimes makes it difficult for "leaders to hear the voices of the grassroots," Luidens added, and they may need "retraining" to hear what he called "a rich source of energy and ability, faithfulness and foresight" in parishes.
Bishop Robert Shahan described himself as an "alien" for insisting that the church demonstrate "vision and courage." When he became leader of the Episcopal Church in Arizona, he encouraged the diocese to dream, "to ask what the church would look like if it were healthy, if it were inspired." As a result the diocese began to see that "vision pulls us into the future," he said.
The test for everything that is done in the diocese, Shahan added, is "whether this will make us one or many," whether it builds unity or fragmentation. The only rules are to tell the truth and ask, "Does this make sense?"
Speaking as a church leader to church journalists, the bishop contended that "truth is rarely agenda-free." In urging participants to "do your job in a way that builds the church," he warned, "Sometimes you deceive yourselves into thinking that truth and your perspective are the same."
"You aren't reporters or even journalists -- you are evangelists," Shahan said. "You have a high calling, a place of honor and respect at the table of God, people believe you and trust you." In walking the "fine line between personal integrity and institutional loyalty," Shahan invited his audience to seize "the power to imagine -- for imagining is what makes it happen."
In an awards competition that drew almost a thousand entries, Episcopal publications did very well. Episcopal Life won first place among national newspapers. Triniry News, published by Trinity Church of Wall Street in New York, won the top award for general interest magazines. Kanuga News was best in class for newsletters and Ikhana, published by the Episcopal Church's office of Indian ministries, took third place in the category.
Episcopal Life also won the top award, the award of excellence, for reader response and seven other awards for newswriting, biographical profile, department, inspirational writing, graphics and photography.
Episcopal News Service won the award of excellence for a feature story on the Middle East and an award of merit for the story on the embezzlement by the church's former treasurer.
Among the other awards:
- Cathedral Age, published by the Washington National Cathedral, award of merit for cover and award of excellence for magazine graphics.
- Trinity News, award of merit for statement of purpose, and award of excellence for magazine graphics.
- Witness Magazine, award of excellence for editor's note, award of merit for theme issue or series.
- The Record, Diocese of Michigan, award of merit for theme issue.
- Anglican Advance, Diocese of Chicago, award of excellence for biographical profile and award of merit for front page.
- Interchange, Diocese of Southern Ohio, award of merit for first-person story.
- Episcopal Times, Diocese of Massachusetts, award of excellence for news story on the suicide of the bishop and an award of merit for feature article.
Honorable mention awards were also scattered among the Episcopal publications.
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