Christian Chronicle wins 14 national, state journalism awards
The Christian Chronicle captured 14 national and state journalism awards in prizes announced Friday and Saturday nights.
The Chronicle, an international newspaper for Churches of Christ, earned eight Associated Church Press “Best of the Christian Press” awards in competition against religious publications throughout the United States and Canada. Awards were presented Friday night at the ACP’s annual conference in Chicago.
The Oklahoma City-based Chronicle received six awards Saturday night from the Oklahoma pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, competing in the Division A category against The Oklahoman, the Tulsa World, The Associated Press, the Oklahoma Gazette and other newspapers with 25,000-and-up circulations.
Loventrice Farrow, a writer and member of the Naperville Church of Christ in Illinois, accepted the ACP awards on the Chronicle’s behalf. Awards recognized work produced in 2010. Honors included:
• First Place, Feature Article, for “Life, death and rebirth in The Killing Fields,” by Erik Tryggestad.
• First Place, Interview, for “The Rookie, Part 2,” by Bobby Ross Jr.
• Second Place, Best in Class, National/International Newspaper, for The Christian Chronicle, Lynn A McMillon, Editor.
• Second Place, Feature Article, for “Faith, hope and love behind bars,” by Bobby Ross Jr.
• Second Place, In-Depth Coverage, for “Haiti Earthquake,” by Erik Tryggestad and Bobby Ross Jr. Stories included Tryggestad’s reporting from Haiti and Florida, Ross’ story on Haitian orphans reunited in the U.S. and a piece on Christian university students rallying to help victims.
• Second Place, Graphics: Design, Spread or Story, for Currents section “Southeast Asia” design, by Erik Tryggestad.
• Third Place, Editorial or Opinion Piece, for “Showing Christ’s love in Haiti, together,” by Erik Tryggestad.
• Third Place, Graphics: Newspaper Front Page, for “December 2010 Page 1,” by Erik Tryggestad.
The Oklahoma SPJ awards were presented at a banquet in Tulsa, recognizing work produced in 2009 and 2010. Managing Editor Bobby Ross Jr. and Assistant Managing Editor Erik Tryggestad accepted the awards for the Chronicle:
• First Place, In-Depth Reporting/Team, for “Global South” series, by Erik Tryggestad, Bobby Ross Jr., Lynn McMillon, Amanda Jordan and Joy McMillon. The professional journalists who judged the contest said of the winning entry (recognized with five ACP national awards last year):
The Christian Chronicle set out to capture how the dominant face of the Christian church is diversifying thanks to millions of new members around the world — no small task to say the least. Yet the team of reporters traveled the world to document in great depth and personal detail the shift in membership and what that means for the future of its global community. The depth of effort, diversity in story topics, vast geographical range and complexity in perspectives did the subject matter great justice and was a clear standout in a very competitive category.
• Second Place, Best Reporting Portfolio, for five stories by Erik Tryggestad, including reporting on the Haiti earthquake, the first part of “Global South” from Nigeria and the “Life, death and rebirth in The Killing Fields” feature from Cambodia.
• Third Place, Science, Technology and Environmental Reporting, for “Christian universities ‘go green’ with buildings, programs,” by Ted Parks.
• Honorable Mention, Criminal Justice Reporting, for “Faith, hope and love behind bars,” by Bobby Ross Jr.
• Honorable Mention, Editorial/Commentary, for “Our view of money shapes missions,” by Erik Tryggestad.
• Honorable Mention, Sports Feature, for “The Rookie, Part 2,” by Bobby Ross Jr.
We at the Chronicle don’t do what we do to win awards (our mission is to “inform, inspire and unite Churches of Christ”), but it’s always nice to be recognized by professional peers. 
Based at Oklahoma Christian University, the Chronicle is a nonprofit, independent newspaper overseen by a 19-person national board of trustees chaired by Deon Fair and supported by donations from thousands of generous readers from coast to coast.
Lynn McMillon serves as Editor, President and CEO.
Other Chronicle staff members crucial to the newspaper’s success include Editor Emeritus Bailey McBride, Advertising Director Tamie Ross, Reviews Editors Harold Shank, Circulation Manager Lynda Sheehan, Associate Editor Joy McMillon and Administrative Assistants Tonda Stafford and Virginia Ware.
The Chronicle has a monthly print circulation of 116,000 in all 50 states and reaches thousands of additional readers around the world through its website.
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FeedbackCONGRATS to a GREAT STAFF AND PAPER!!!Patty FallettaMay, 2 2011Woo hoo!! Awesome and congrats!! 🙂Katherine GouldMay, 2 2011congratulations!Jenny Lee Hoel GarrisonMay, 2 2011I am not surprised! Congratulations! These several awards represent wonderful creativity but also a tremendous amount of hard work.Royce OgleMay, 3 2011Good News -Good work .good people keep on doing Good the joy is at hand as you hear from the Lord Jesus Christ rejoice always and again rejoiceEric Obeng AsanteMay, 3 2011Congratulations to all!Tim PylesMay, 3 2011Congratulations!!!!
Congratulations to a team who well deserve these honors!
QueenieGwen AntwineMay, 3 2011Congratulations! You’ve been doing a fantastic job and it’s nice to know that many people in many walks of life are recognizing it. Keep up the great work!Cynthia Phagan BittickMay, 5 2011Congratulations to each member of the Christian Chronicle team. So thrilled to read about your achievements.
As much as I enjoy the updates on the website and blog, when a package of mail reaches me here in Russia, I devour the Christian Chronicle cover-to-cover. Something about the hard copy, even the advertising, is packed with information.
Again, congratulations and keep up the Good Work!
Eileen Emch
Rostov-on-Don, RussiaEileen EmchMay, 6 2011At a time when print journalism is on the wane, I am heartened by the quality and integrity of your publication. The world needs in-depth, reliable reporting to measure government, business and religious institutions by God’s standards.Becky WooleyMay, 11 2011
Keep up the good work!!
Dee (& Tom) Andrews