Religion News Association again honors Erik Tryggestad for coverage including the war in Ukraine

ARLINGTON, VA. — For the second time in three years, The Christian Chronicle’s Erik Tryggestad has earned a top national award for his coverage of the war in Ukraine.

The Religion News Association announced the winners of the 2025 Excellence in Religion Reporting Awards at a ceremony Saturday night at the Hilton Arlington National Landing, just across the Potomac River from the nation’s capital.

Tryggestad, the Chronicle’s president and CEO as well as its lead international reporter, won second place for reporting at magazines and non-daily newspapers.

In downtown Kyiv, near an impromptu memorial for lives lost during the war with Russia, Erik Tryggestad snaps a selfie with Ukrainian Christians Dennis Zolotaryov, left, and Inna Kuzmenko.

Judges cited Tryggestad’s “extremely expansive portfolio of stories on immigration and the war in Ukraine,” said contest chairman Jeff Diamant.

“Among other things, Erik went to the war front to talk to ministers about what it’s like to preach amid bombs and sirens,” Diamant said in presenting the award. “On an assignment to Latvia, he reported on Christians living in fear of a possible Russian invasion of Baltic nations — a trauma many older residents remember from previous occupations by the Soviet (Union). Another story adeptly interviewed workers and migrant recipients of aid of a Church of Christ food pantry in Chicago, which has been operating under increased demand.”

Bobby Ross Jr., the Chronicle’s editor-in-chief, accepted the award on Tryggestad’s behalf.

“I’m honored and humbled to be recognized alongside the best religion journalists in the country,” said Tryggestad, who has reported from 92 countries and territories since joining the Chronicle staff in 2001. “I’m also saddened that the stories I submitted all focus on the suffering of Christians in Ukraine, the Baltics and the U.S.

“It’s important for journalists to share the stories of real people impacted by decisions made in war rooms, board rooms and the halls of power.”

On a train ride from Warsaw, Poland, to Olomouc, Czech Republic, Erik Tryggestad takes a selfie with the plush, flak vest-wearing goose he purchased at a gas station in Ukraine. “Goostov,” as he was named, has traveled with Tryggestad from Ukraine to Poland, the Czech Republic, Latvia, the U.S., Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Tryggestad’s winning portfolio included:

• “Where is God in a war zone?” from Ukraine.

• “As Christians in the Baltics watch Russia’s war in Ukraine, they ponder: Are we next?” from Latvia.

• “Church food pantries respond to increased need amid migrant surge” from Chicago.

A volunteer carts donated food up the wheelchair ramp for the Lakeview Church of Christ’s food ministry.

Two years ago, Tryggestad claimed first place in the same contest for his coverage of the first year of the war in Ukraine.

Related: Religion News Association honors Erik Tryggestad for his coverage of the war in Ukraine

This past weekend’s ceremony capped the three-day annual conference of RNA — “the premier professional organization for people who report on religion in the news media.” Ross, a seven-time past winner of RNA reporting awards, moderated a panel discussion at the national gathering on religion reporting in small markets.

Erik Tryggestad stands next to a tribute banner in Kyiv, Ukraine. Nearby are the remains of a bridge that linked the Ukrainian capital with its northern suburb, Irpin. Ukrainian forces destroyed the bridge in the early days of the 2022 conflict to keep Russian troops from entering the capital.

Filed under: Baltics Erik Tryggestad immigration International journalism journalism awards National News People refugees Religion News Association Top Stories Ukraine