Banner, Breaking Barriers Win Associated Church Press Awards

The Banner, the Christian Reformed Church’s magazine, and Breaking Barriers, the newsletter put out by the CRC and Reformed Church in America Disability Concerns ministries, have won several awards in the annual Associated Church Press (ACP) Best of the Christian Press Award competition.

The awards, presented annually by the ACP, North America’s oldest interdenominational religious press association, recognize the best work in Canadian and American church publications. This year’s awards ceremony was held in Chicago.

“I am blessed to work with an award-winning editorial team. Our Award of Merit for the Best in Class - Denominational Magazine in the national category shows we continue to work hard at serving our readers and denomination to the best of our abilities,” said Shiao Chong, editor of The Banner.

“We are grateful for the recognition from the ACP,” he said. “We have always sought to deliver quality journalism and writing for our readers. These awards are an acknowledgment of our efforts. They are a further inspiration and motivation for us to continue serving our readers and the CRCNA.”

Chong won an honorable mention for his editorial, “Seeing Christmas Through New Eyes” (Dec. 2016).

The Banner also won two awards for “Our Lady Too” (Dec. 2016), a feature article written by former interim editor Leonard J. Vander Zee. One of the judges commented, “A good corrective for religious traditions that have underemphasized the role of Mary.”

Banner news writer Janet Greidanus won an award for “Then and Now: Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of Ordination of Women in the CRC” (Dec. 2016).

Debra Rienstra won an award for a short seasonal devotional article titled “Nothing Is Wasted” (June 2016).

The entire Synod 2016 news team won an award in the in-depth coverage category for their work in The Banner’s July/August 2016 issue.

And semi-retired CRC minister Robert Koornneef won an award in the personal experience, first-person category for “I Never Had a Chance to Say Goodbye,” a reflection on the death of his wife (Jan. 2016). A judge said, “This is a very brave, introspective, and well-written piece on a very personal and difficult topic. Very powerful.”

Edited by Terry A. DeYoung and Mark Stephenson, the Breaking Barriers newsletter won an Award of Excellence (first place) in Best in Class / Print Newsletter.

The newsletter also won an Award of Merit for an article titled “Yearning, Treasuring, Hoping” by Eric Groot-Nibbelink (Spring 2016). In addition, the newsletter won an Honorable Mention for “Abuse and Disability” in its Winter 2016 issue.

A judge said, “The writing and editing, topics covered, and format and design well complement each other, resulting in a reader-friendly publication that provides broad coverage of disability issues and God’s work in the midst of those issues.”

“At its heart, Breaking Barriers is a 35-year story project. These awards shine a light of appreciation on our authors who through the years have given readers a deeper understanding of life with disability,” said Mark Stephenson.
Shiao Chong said it was fitting that the theme for this year’s ACP conference was "Bridges to Understanding."

“This theme resonates with The Banner’s desire to foster unity and reconciliation within a denomination with a plurality of viewpoints,” he said.

For a list of all winners, click here.