29 September 2009

Church magazines enjoy ARPA nods

Sydney, New South Wales
RECORD staff

Adventist church publications RECORD and Signs of the Times each received two awards at the annual conference of the Australasian Religious Press Association (ARPA) on September 12.

RECORD received ARPA's Silver Award for "Best editorial/opinion piece" for "My life verse" (Editorial, April 26, 2008 ), written by former associate editor Pastor David Edgren. The editorial addressed the issue of pornography addiction and was described in the judges' comments as a "confession [that] took courage to write, and takes courage to read, although it is ultimately rewarding and uplifting."

A news report in RECORD written by editorial assistant Adele Nash-"Leaders support targeting binge drinking" (News, March 29, 2008 )-was also "Highly commended" by the ARPA judges in the "Best news item" category. Judges commented, "A piece that not only details the Adventist support for anti-binge drinking campaigns but also steps back and reflects on the problem of binge drinking within some sections of the Adventist community."

Keynote speaker at the Australasian Religious Press Association conference
and prominent Australia social researcher and writer Hugh Mackay (left)
presents one of RECORD's ARPA awards to editor Nathan Brown.

In the category of "Best humorous item," Pastor Edgren received a second Silver Award for "Another shot at saying ‘sorry,'" which appeared in the April 2008 issue of Signs of the Times. Judges commented that the story made its point well.

And Signs magazine was "Highly commended" for being "constantly well laid out with good use of typography and format" in the "Best layout" category, after judges considered a number of the 2008 issues of the magazine, which were worked on by Signs designers Shane Winfield, Mitchell Harris and Ruby Lim.

Lee Dunstan, editor of Signs, says, "It's a magazine any Christian would be happy to share, in a good measure thanks to its contemporary, colourful and attractive design."

RECORD editor Nathan Brown says, "While a story such as that of someone who picked up a copy of RECORD on a tram and decided to go back to church ("On a tram," Letters, September 26 ) is far more significant, it is pleasing to have some of our work from last year recognised in this way. So congratulations to Dave and Adele for their individual commendations.

"But putting together, printing and producing the magazines has been a team effort involving many people at Signs Publishing Company, as well as many others from around the South Pacific who contribute. And positive feedback and awards such as these recognise all of those efforts. We appreciate these many contributions, as do thousands of readers of RECORD and Signs."

Pastor Edgren says, "It's nice to be recognised like this. I didn't even know the articles had been entered and it came as a real surprise. I'm glad the articles I wrote won, particularly the humorous one-it's been a great story of healing in my marriage. There was a lot of me in both of these articles and I guess the judging panel appreciated the revelation of self. They were articles only I could write because they were my own experience. Sharing your own experience is one of the hardest things to do but also one of the most rewarding."

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