ELCA NEWS SERVICE May 4, 2005 ELCA Communicators Honored By Associated Church Press 05-083-JB NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ELCA) -- The Associated Church Press (ACP) honored several Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) communicators April 26 here at its annual "Best of the Christian Press" awards program for 2004. Founded in 1916, the ACP is the oldest religious press association in North America. A top ACP award went to Women of the ELCA's "Cafe -- Stirring the Spirit Within," named Best in Class with an Award of Excellence in the Independent Web site or E-zine category. Nancy J. Goldberger, former editor, and Elizabeth C. McBride, designer, were honored for their work. Just three weeks earlier the Religion Communicators Council named "Cafe" Best in Class and gave it an Award of Excellence, citing Goldberger and McBride. "Each issue of this colorful, highly focused e-zine for women 20 to 35 takes up a specific subject -- sexual exploitation, domestic violence, women of Afghanistan -- and treats it fully with a lively, well-written feature with sidebars, illustrations and lists of resources," the ACP judges said. "Other pages provide supporting features, comments on the topic from individuals, and links to related resources." "It's a model of effective and exciting electronic journalism and demonstrates how competitive with print a well- designed, well-written e-zine can be," they added. "Lutheran Woman Today," published by Women of the ELCA, was recognized in the Best of Class category with an Award of Merit for Special-Interest Magazines. Editors were Goldberger, Terri A. Lackey and McBride; On-Track Visual Communications was the designer. The Lutheran, the magazine of the ELCA, received 10 awards, and Lutheran Partners, a magazine published by the ELCA for professional lay and ordained ministers, received an honorable mention. The ACP gave Lutheran Woman Today six other awards: + Bible Resource, Award of Excellence: Audrey West, "Everyday Surprises: The Parables of Jesus," September-December + Ancillary Product, Award of Excellence: Magazine-overview brochure + Feature Article, Special Interest Magazine, Award of Merit: Ingrid Christiansen, "Finding the Way Home," September + Editorial and Opinion, Editorial Courage, Honorable Mention (tie): Cristina L.H. Traina, "Of Masks and Maquiladoras," October + Photography, Magazine, Honorable Mention: Erik Johnson, "And God Saw That It Was Good," June + Publication Web Site, Honorable Mention: Goldberger, Lackey and McBride, Web editors; Trekk Cross Media, Web designer ACP Awards that were presented to The Lutheran were: + In-Depth Coverage, Magazine, Award of Merit: The Lutheran staff, "Our Church and Homosexuality," February, May, August, November and December + Most Personally Useful Article: Julie B. Sevig, "Treasures Without Turmoil" + Editorial and Opinion, Magazine, Honorable Mention: The Rev. David L. Miller, "Beyond Tough," November + Editorial and Opinion, Editorial Courage, Honorable Mention (tie): Miller, "Beyond Good and Evil," July + Interview, Honorable Mention: Elizabeth Hunter, "Chillin' on eBay," February + Personal Experience, Short Format: Sonia C. Solomonson, "Two Celebrations and a Funeral," November + Humor Piece, Honorable Mention (tie): Sevig, "Four-Legged Faith," October + Scholarly Article, Honorable Mention (tie): Douglas John Hall, "The Theology of the Cross for Our Day," March + Magazine Design, Story or Spread: Michael D. Watson, "The Fountain of Life," August + Magazine Design, Entire Issue, 4-Color, Honorable Mention: Amber Leberman, Lorel K. Fox and Watson, August ACP recognized Lutheran Partners with an Honorable Mention in the Feature Article, Special Interest Magazine category. "Modern Media and the Sermon" was written by the Rev. Mark D. Johns and appeared in the November/December issue. --- Information about the Associated Church Press is available at http://theacp.org on the Web. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news