Women of the ELCA staff is honored to have received a total of 22 awards from two religion communicator organizations, including two Best in Class awards.
Staff received 11 DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards from the Religion Communicators Council (RCC), and 11 Best of Church Press awards from Associated Church Press (ACP). Because of COVID-19, a joint convention of the two religion organizations—to be held in Washington, D.C., March 18-21—was canceled. ACP held its awards ceremony online.
The awards were for work completed in 2019.
Best in Class
RCC awarded Gather magazine a prestigious Best in Class award in the Periodicals, Single Issue category for its January/February 2019 issue. Elizabeth Hunter, editor, and Sarah Carson, managing editor, produce the magazine.
In the Public Relations or Marketing Campaign category, ACP gave Women of the ELCA an Overall Excellence/Best in Class Honorable Mention for Gathering 2020’s “Just Love” logo, marketing materials (pins, screen wipes, coasters), and invitational video. The video was shown at the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Milwaukee and is online at welcatg.org. Elizabeth McBride, editor of Café and director of intergenerational programming, designed the logo, and Terri Lackey, director for communication, wrote the video script. Will Nunnally of the ELCA’s mission advancement unit, produced the video.
Awards of excellence, merit and honorable mention
From RCC, in addition to the Best in Class award, Women of the ELCA received four awards of excellence and six awards of merit. (See the complete list below.)
From ACP, also in addition to the Best in Class award, Women of the ELCA collected two awards of excellence, six awards of merit and two honorable mentions.
LIST OF AWARDS: Religion Communicators Council
Women of the ELCA won the following awards from RCC:
- Periodicals, newsletter, national, award of excellence, Interchange/Intercambio, Terri Lackey, editor
- Graphic design, art, and photography illustration, logo/branding development, award of merit, “Just Love” logo, Elizabeth McBride, designer
- Public relations/advertising campaigns, integrated marketing campaign, award of merit, Just Love/Gathering 2020, Elizabeth McBride, Terri Lackey
- Public relations/advertising campaigns, social media campaign, award of merit, Daily Grace, Terri Lackey, editor
- Digital media, blog, award of merit, blogs by Linda Post Bushkofsky (“Black is the color of resistance, resilience and solidarity,” “Sew-along stitches together online community,” “Will prayer squares inspire a new ministry for you?”) and Elizabeth McBride (“Don’t do this if you want people to feel welcome”), Terri Lackey, editor
Gather won the following awards from RCC:
- Best in Class, periodicals, single issue, Gather magazine January/February 2019 issue, Elizabeth Hunter and Sarah Carson editors
- Periodicals, single issue, magazine, national, award of excellence, January/February 2019 issue of Gather magazine, Elizabeth Hunter, Sarah Carson, editors
- Public Relations Materials, flyer, award of excellence, Gather magazine Bible study, Sarah Carson, designer, Elizabeth Hunter, editor
- Graphic design, art, and photography illustration, award of merit, “Poems with Pandas,” 2Communique, art direction, Elizabeth Hunter, Sarah Carson, editors
- Graphic design, art, and photography illustration, publication cover, award of merit, October 2019 issue, 2Communique, art direction, Elizabeth Hunter, Sarah Carson, editors
Café won the following awards from RCC:
- Periodicals, e-magazine, award of excellence, Bold Café, Elizabeth McBride, editor
LIST OF AWARDS: Associated Church Press
Women of the ELCA won the following awards from ACP:
- Overall Excellence/Best in Class, honorable mention: “Just Love” logo for Women of the ELCA’s 2020 Gathering by Elizabeth McBride, designer; Terri Lackey, director for communication; video production by Will Nunnally, ELCA
Gather won the following awards from ACP:
- Humor, award of excellence, “The aroma of faith” by Ann Milliken Pederson
- Theological reflection (short format), award of excellence, “Forgive my enemies too?!” by Angela Khabeb
- Theological reflection (long format), award of merit, “Gossip or Gospel” by Christa von Zychlin
- Devotional/inspirational (short format), award of merit, “On fish and fragility” by Abigail Accettura; and honorable mention, “Holy emptiness” by Denise Rector
- Devotional/inspirational (long format), honorable mention, “From generation to generation: Two-way blessings” by Christa von Zychlin
- Bible resource, award of merit, “No hard feelings? (Bible study) by Anna Madsen
- Art/design/graphics: magazine cover, award of merit for the January/February 2019 Gather cover by 2Communique, Sena Runa
- Art/design/graphics: magazine/journal design, entire issue, award of merit, October 2019 issue by 2Communique
Café won the following awards from ACP:
- Podcast/audio series, award of merit, boldcafe.org podcast series, January 2019, May 2019, and October 2019 by Elizabeth McBride, editor, and Josh Ginter, sound engineer
Find the list of all awards from Religion Communicators Council here; and the list of all awards from Associated Church Press here.