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Here are highlights of the 2016 convention, St. Louis

    ‘Best of the Church Press’ Awards 2016

    The Awards Committee gave more than 200 awards to newspapers, newsletters, magazines, journals, news services, E-zines, bloggers, websites, video and social media at the Associated Church Press 2016 convention.

    See the complete list of winners: bit.ly/2016bestof

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    Lively discussion engages ‘Race, Religion, and Media’

    A highly engaged audience kept a post-lunch panel on “Race, Religion, and Media” going well past the scheduled ending time. As a first step toward telling race-related stories, religious journalists should “become more aware of the biases they have,” said panelist Lisa Sharon Harper, Chief Church Engagement Officer for Sojourners.

    Read the story here: bit.ly/2016racepanel

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    Worship challenges participants to leave their ‘comfort zone’

    Rev. Monica Jefferson, a St. Louis native who is pastor of St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Florissant, Mo., invited ACP members to travel with her on her “life journey,” from growing up in a family of 10 children to confirmation in the church to becoming one of the first African American female leaders in her denomination. Taking as her text 2 Corinthians 5:20, she challenged listeners to be “ambassadors of Christ” and to spread a message of reconcilation.

    Read the story here: bit.ly/2016worship

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    Recognize God’s image in all people

    Keynote speaker Sharon Harper, Chief Church Engagement Officer for Sojourners, challenged listeners to seek a deeper understanding of the gospel that makes it truly “good news” for all people—especially for victims of injustice and oppression.

    Read the story here: bit.ly/2016harper

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    A fascinating look at Billy Graham and American politics

    “What’s striking about Graham’s career is how well he got along with the press,” said keynote speaker Grant Wacker, author of America’s Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation. From the 1950s on, he said, reporters’ attitudes toward the evangelist warmed from curiosity to respect to admiration to veneration.

    Read the story here: http://bit.ly/2016wacker

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    Mark your calendar for next year’s convention!

    Plan now to attend next year’s Associated Church Press convention: April 26–28 in Chicago. Stay tuned for details!


    ACP ROOTS:

    The Associated Church Press traces its origin to a St. Louis, MO, meeting in 1916 at the Warwick Hotel. For our 100th Anniversary, we returned to St. Louis, with a host of professional-development workshops, fellowship opportunities, worship and inspiring keynote speakers.

    WarwickHotelACP1916In the 1916 meeting, editors covering the quadrennial meeting of the Federal Council of Churches (now the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.) decided that they should meet on a continuing basis. Wartime constraints in 1917 and 1918 prevented meetings those two years.The second meeting was convened in Cleveland, Ohio, in June 1919. E. C. Wareing, Western Christian Advocate, was elected president of the then-named Editorial Council of the Religious Press. Jaspar T. Moses, National Bulletin, and F. M. Barton, The Expositor, were chosen secretary and treasurer, respectively.In 1937, the name of the organization was changed to the Associated Church Press, and the constitution was revised.