Title: ELCA Communicators Receive 2003 DeRose-Hinkhouse Awards
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 29, 2003

ELCA COMMUNICATORS RECEIVE 2003 DEROSE-HINKHOUSE AWARDS
03-088-FI

     INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The Religion Communicators Council (RCC)
honored several members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) with DeRose-Hinkhouse Awards at the opening banquet of the 2003
RCC convention here April 24.  Awards were given for communication
projects completed in 2002 in eight general and 31 specific categories,
with eight "Best of Class" awards and a special "Shoestring Award."
     The DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards are given annually to active
RCC members who demonstrate excellence in religion communications and
public relations.  The awards are named to honor the late Victor DeRose
and the late Paul M. Hinkhouse, leading lithographers in New York and
longtime friends of the RCC.
     MOSAIC, the video magazine of the ELCA, received Best of Class
honors in the non-broadcast audio and video category for its Winter 2003
issue, "Glory to God Alone: The Life of J.S. Bach."  Tim Frakes,
producer for MOSAIC, ELCA Department for Communication, Chicago,
accepted one of the eight DeRose-Hinkhouse crystal disks with RCC
emblem.
     MOSAIC is a documentary video series distributed on DVD or
videotape to subscribers on a quarterly basis.  Glory to God Alone was a
30-minute introduction to the 18th century German composer Johann
Sebastian Bach, who is responsible for volumes of music, significant
both classically and to the Lutheran tradition.
     Lutheran Social Services of the South (LSSS), Austin, Texas,
received the Shoestring Award for producing the most effective
communication with the smallest budget.  Katherine Kerr, LSSS associate
vice president for public relations, accepted the honor for the
promotional video, "Rebuild New Life."
     The video was produced with a budget of $3,800 and helped generate
$1.2 million, as well as in-kind gifts and 5,800 volunteer hours, to
restore the New Life Children's Residential Treatment Center, Canyon
City, Texas.  A July 4 flood displaced 48 girls, aged 11 to 17, and the
center's 45 staff until Dec. 23.  Getting their campus back was "a
wonderful Christmas gift," Kerr said.
     The RCC presented 41 Awards of Excellence for communication
projects judged to be in the top 10 percent of their categories.  To be
eligible for Best of Class honors, MOSAIC received an Award of
Excellence.
     Lutheran Woman Today, the magazine of Women of the ELCA, Chicago,
received two Awards of Excellence for its September 2002 issue.  Nancy
Goldberger and Deborah Bogaert accepted the awards for publication cover
and for the cover article "God and Chaos, Faith and Healing," by the
Rev. Herbert W. Chilstrom, former presiding bishop of the ELCA.
     Communication staff of the ELCA Board of Pensions, Minneapolis,
received an Award of Excellence for overall publication design.  The
Rev. Ronald T. Glusenkamp, Terrance G. Mencel, Kimberly Purifoy and
Linda J. Renander accepted the honor for the Retirement Plan education
packet produced in 2002.
     Fifty-one Awards of Merit were given for other projects judged to
be in the top 25 percent of their categories.  Several ELCA members
received Awards of Merit:
+ Sheri Booms Holm, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., "Luther Seminary
Advent Devotional," category of print media other than periodicals
+ The Rev. Ronald Glusenkamp, Kami Lund and Terrance Mencel, ELCA Board
of Pensions, "Congregation 'passed the peace' to ELCA retirees in need
through Special Needs Retirement Fund" by Kami Lund, category of writing
for periodicals
+ Deborah Bogaert and Nancy Goldberger, Lutheran Woman Today, Women of
the ELCA, January/February 2002, "Forgiving" by Jeanne Bishop, category
of writing for periodicals
+ Barbara Andrews, ELCA Department for Communication, "This Holy Night"
public relations campaign for CBS television special, category of public
relations/advertising
+ Karen Dersnah, ELCA Department for Communication,
www.daveyandgoliath.org Web site for "Davey and Goliath," category of
electronic communication
+ Wendy McCredie, ELCA Department for Communication, @elca, the online
employee newsletter for the Lutheran Center, category of electronic
communication
+ Maria Thompson, Luther Seminary, http://www.luthersem.edu/godpause/
"God Pause," daily Christian devotions, category of electronic
communication
     Glusenkamp coordinated the judging of entries for DeRose-Hinkhouse
Awards through the ELCA Board of Pensions' department for customer
outreach.  Each of eight of the RCC's 11 local chapters was responsible
for judging entries in one of the general categories; and a panel of
professional religion and secular communicators selected the winning
entries.
     The RCC received 344 entries for this year's awards.  Entries were
judged on overall quality, including such aspects as concept, writing,
design, creativity, communication value and effectiveness in achieving
its purpose.
     Founded in 1929, the RCC is an international and interfaith
association of about 550 religion communicators at work in print and
electronic communication, marketing and public relations.  Its next
convention will be held March 25-27, 2004, in Birmingham, Ala.
-- -- --
     The home page of the Religion Communicators Council is at
http://www.religioncommunicators.org on the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html