Did you see the announcement about your state Baptist paper published in the May 24 issue? The announcement was a little understated for such an unusual accomplishment, so it would have been easy to miss. Let me explain.
In the United States there are three ecumenical religious journalism organizations. Religious Communicators Council (RCC) is an interfaith group. Evangelical Press Association (EPA) is composed of media serving the evangelical audience. Associated Church Press (ACP) is the oldest of the three and has membership from mainline Protestants, evangelicals and Roman Catholic publications.
This year The Alabama Baptist was selected as the best regional religious newspaper in the nation by RCC and EPA. ACP gave The Alabama Baptist second place in that category. That is as close to a clean sweep for any publication that I can remember in all my years in religious journalism. This year was the ninth time RCC has honored The Alabama Baptist with its top award for regional Christian newspapers. For EPA, it is the second time the Alabama Baptist state paper has been so honored.
ACP has awarded The Alabama Baptist first place in the regional Christian newspaper category four of the last nine years. The other five years the paper finished second. Taken together, this is the 16th consecutive year the Alabama Baptist state newspaper has been honored by at least one of these three organizations as one of the top two regional Christian newspapers in the United States.
The work of the staff won other awards too. Among them was coverage of the April 27 tornadoes, which gained top honors from each of the three ecumenical organizations. The judge for ACP wrote of the coverage, “This is what good journalism is supposed to be.”
Obviously all of us at The Alabama Baptist are pleased that the state Baptist paper was judged so highly when compared to hundreds of other publications. And as editor, I am thrilled for the accomplishments of the writers, photographers, designers, copy editors and all the others who contributed to producing the award-winning publication.
But as someone observed, with those awards and a couple of dollars, you might be able to get a cup of coffee. In other words, the awards are nice. They attest to the professionalism of The Alabama Baptist each week. But that is not the primary way the paper is evaluated by Alabama Baptists.
Those who read the paper each week want to know how the paper helps them be a better Christian. Those who help underwrite the paper through Cooperative Program (CP) support want to know how the state Baptist paper helps build up the body of Christ known as Alabama Baptists. Unless the paper accomplishes these things, the awards are just sound and fury signifying nothing.
Testimonies from those who read the paper and use the paper are the most important awards ever received by the state Baptist paper.
When a mother stops to express appreciation for the feature on organ transplants because her son needs a new kidney and she has questions about the process from a biblical perspective, that means the paper wins an award.
When a church training group uses the state Baptist paper as a guide to discuss current issues from a biblical perspective, that means the state Baptist paper wins an award.
When readers share they use the state Baptist paper as a prayer guide each week to help them pray for real needs around the world, that means the state Baptist paper wins an award.
When congressmen and state legislators get a letter or phone call from a constituent because that person read an article in his or her state Baptist paper, that is another award.
When a church decides to increase its CP giving or at least not to cut it during recessionary times, that is yet another major award.
Baptists use the state Baptist paper because they know it works. This year International Mission Board President Tom Elliff joins those urging Alabama Baptists to subscribe to their state Baptist paper. In a video available to churches he points out that the state Baptist paper is the primary source of missions information for Southern Baptists.
State evangelism director Sammy Gilbreath often says that whenever there is a story about evangelism in The Alabama Baptist, he has to make sure his office has adequate staffing to cover the phones because calls and invitations will pour in.
And study after study demonstrates that churches that provide the state Baptist paper to their active families give more to missions than churches that do not provide the paper.
The mission of The Alabama Baptist focuses on the individual — “to empower readers to live out the biblical concepts of Christian discipleship.” This is the paper’s vision statement. Stories identify who Alabama Baptists are in the family of God, teach what we believe, illustrate how we work together, promote all we do and encourage Christian discipleship. Articles remind that Alabama Baptists are part of a faith family larger than a local congregation, lift the missions vision to the ends of the earth, put names and faces on abstract concepts, inspire with stories of victory and faithfulness, offer perspective for complex issues before Baptists and provide a common source of reliable information that makes cooperation possible.
The Alabama Baptist is not a luxury for leftover funds in the church budget. It is a necessity for any church serious about creating Christian disciples — serious about joining others to share the good news of Jesus to the ends of the earth.
Sunday, July 29 is Read The Alabama Baptist Day on the state convention calendar. It is a time to draw attention to the contributions of the state Baptist paper to the lives of individuals and to the life of the convention. It is a time to pray for the paper’s ministry and to encourage any who do not regularly read the paper to subscribe. Please participate in this important day. As editor, I assure you all of us will do our best to continue providing a publication that receives favorable reviews from professional religious journalists. But the awards we really want are the positive changes God makes in lives because they read The Alabama Baptist.
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