The Christian Citizen, its editor are honored at RCC annual awards banquet
VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 04/22/2024)—For work completed in 2023, The Christian Citizen, an American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) publication, and its editor, Curtis Ramsey-Lucas, received seven DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards from the Religion Communicators Council (RCC) at a banquet April 4 during the organization’s annual conference.
From L to R: Rev. Brian Fesler, awards coordinator for the Religion Communicators Council, presents Curtis Ramsey-Lucas, editor of The Christian Citizen, with a DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Award for his best-in-class magazine article.
In the category Writing for Periodicals: Magazine Article or Story, Single Work, Ramsey-Lucas was celebrated for “Bruce Willis diagnosed with FTD: How churches can respond pastorally to people with dementia,” which describes the actor’s mental health struggles in the context pastoral care. The piece was named both a category winner and lauded as best in the Writing for Periodicals class among a wide array of magazine and newspaper submissions. “I am thankful for the recognition of my religion communicator peers,” Ramsey-Lucas said about the selection committee’s reaction to his work.
Ramsey-Lucas expressed further delight at the grateful attention his article has received from other readers. He noted that when Baptist News Global first published it, family members of people living with dementia reached out to him to share their appreciation as they saw something of their own situations in the story. “I’m hopeful that this award from the RCC will expose the story to an even wider audience who will benefit from reading it,” he added.
“Missionary of grief,” another submission to Writing for Periodicals: Magazine Article or Story, Single Work that Ramsey-Lucas penned, also garnered praise. This review of the book “Faith, Hope and Carnage” earned an Award of Excellence.
Other award winners included two entries in a second class, Periodicals. The Christian Citizen, Volume 2, 2023, a print edition of the magazine, triumphed in the Magazines, Single Work category, while “Can an exhausted majority find hope in a campaign for dignity?” received an Award of Merit in the Article and Stories, Single Work category.
Finally, three articles published in The Christian Citizen were each conferred a Certificate of Appreciation in the category Article and Stories, Single Work. They are “Joseph, backup quarterback,” “Sinead O’Connor sang and spoke truth,” and “When death interrupts life.”
Founded in 1929, the RCC is an association of communications professionals who work for and with a diverse group of faith-based organizations in the areas of communications, public relations, advertising and development.
The organization bestows the DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards annually to active RCC members who demonstrate excellence in religious communications and public relations. The awards are named in honor of the late Victor DeRose and the late Paul M. Hinkhouse, once leading lithographers in New York City and longtime friends of the RCC who shared a strong interest in, and concern for, excellence in communications.
The Christian Citizen, first published in 1996 as a printed periodical focused on lifting voices for Biblical justice, is now a digital-first publication (with two print editions per year) that seeks to shape minds among American Baptists and others on matters of public concern by providing a forum for diverse voices living and working at the intersection of faith and politics, discipleship and citizenship.
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To learn more about ABHMS’ publishing ministries, visit abhms.org.
American Baptist Home Mission Societies partners with American Baptists to promote Christian faith, cultivate Christ-centered leaders and disciples, and bring healing and transformation to communities across the United States and Puerto Rico.
American Baptist Churches USA is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with approximately 5,000 congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.
