RNA contest winners for 2006

READ THE 2006 CONTEST WINNER PRESS RELEASE
VIEW THE 2006 FINALISTS

For 2006 winners, jump to:
Cassels
Chandler
Cornell
Schachern
Supple
Templeton Reporter of the Year
Templeton Story of the Year

Cassels

FIRST PLACE
Nicole Neroulias, San Mateo County Times
    • Christmas, Hanukkah or Chrismukkah (12/22/05)
    • Signs of the future for deaf Catholics (11/11/05)
    • Muslim community opens doors (10/20/05)
    • A ministry of bikes, blankets and beans (9/22/05)
    • Prayers welcomed at meetings (6/23/o5)

SECOND PLACE
Daniel Burke, Lancaster New Era
    • Self-help of scan? (10/13/05)
    • And from this pulpit - Eagles! (2/4/05)
    • Rappin' for Jesus (2/26/05)
    • Local clerics recall 'People's Pope' (4/4/05)
    • A patchwork mystery (3/31/05)

THIRD PLACE
Linda Andrade Rodrigues, The Standard-Times
    • Woman's silent hope brings redemption (10/29/05)
    • In God's hands—with growing shortage of pastors, churches struggling to stay open (9/18/05)
    • Touched by a guardian angel—believers share accounts of heavenly visitations (2/27/05)
    • Promise of peace, fear of failure (8/21/05)
    • Food pantries thankful for big business partner (11/25/05)

Chandler

FIRST PLACE
Roy Maurer, Indiana University
    • A path less traveled (12/7/05)
    • Spiritual rebirth (1/12/06)
    • New Hindu temple draws midwest followers (3/1/06)

SECOND PLACE
Laura Misjak, Michigan State University
    • Youthful devotion (1/17/06)
    • Festival of giving (1/11/06)
    • Keeping the faith (3/15/06)

THIRD PLACE
Malorie Lucich, San Francisco State University
    • Jewish students bypass passover (4/18/06)
    • Students explore new religious beliefs (12/1/05)
    • Hillel promotes "Nice jewish girls gone bad" (9/30/05)

Cornell

FIRST PLACE
John Chadwick, The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
    • Politics from the pulpit (3/13/05)
    • Minister who acted like a father now at center of a storm (7/10/05)
    • A priest who's been there eases the pain for alcoholics (8/2/05)
    • Interest in Dalai Lama shows Buddhism's reach (9/22/05)
    • In his sister's name (11/27/05)

SECOND PLACE
Brad A. Greenberg, The Sun and the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
    • Church claims mouthful of miracles (11/21/05)
    • Student strives to balance religion and sports (10/27/05)
    • Crises spark divine notions (10/16/05)
    • A test of faith (7/31/05)
    • Religion is prison tested (3/20/05)

THIRD PLACE
Jessica Ravitz, The Salt Lake Tribune
    • "100 Years of Community" (10/22/05)
    • "Torah Celebration" (10/29/05)
    • "Festival of Praise" (11/12/05)
    • "Sacred Initiation" (12/3/05)
    • "Our Little Adventure" (12/10/05)

Schachern

Large papers
FIRST PLACE
The Salt Lake Tribune

SECOND PLACE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

THIRD PLACE
The Grand Rapids Press

Small papers
FIRST PLACE
The Record (Ontario, Canada)

SECOND PLACE
The Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.)

THIRD PLACE
The Huntsville Times (Ala.)

Supple

FIRST PLACE
Douglas Todd, The Vancouver Sun
    • Enter the Evangelicals (7/30/05)
    • Buddhists sell a temple to raise relief funds (1/4/05)
    • Openness will pose a challenge (6/11/05)
    • A multicultural Christmas (12/24/05)
    • Beware the 'Boredom Boom' (5/6/05)

SECOND PLACE
Jennifer Garza, The Sacramento Bee
    • Through years of suffering, the bishop held on until a selfless… (12/23/05)
    • He read about the bishop's plight in the newspaper. The story tugged… (12/24/05)
    • Bishop's new life gives meaning to donr's pain (12/25/05)
    • A year ago, two Christian camp counselors were found slain on a lonely… (8/13/05)
    • The deaths a year ago of two Christian camp counselors have touched… (8/14/05)
    • He cast aside ancient ways (4/3/05)
    • Murdered nun Dorothy Stang is remembered by some as a saint… (3/12/05)

THIRD PLACE
Margaret Ramirez, Chicago Tribune
    • Journey toward the spirits (11/6/05)
    • Farrakhan now opens arms with Millions More march (10/11/05)
    • Angle to fly off after earning wings at Cabrini (3/8/05)
    • Mormons' true believers (7/26/05)
    • Reliving the Passion if Pilsen (3/25/05)
    • Church gears up for show of faith (7/17/05)
    • Suffering seen as part of spiritual journey (4/2/05)

Templeton Reporter of the Year

FIRST PLACE
Gary Stern, The Journal News (White Plains, NY)
    • Billy the kid came to see the big city (6/19/05)
    • Hasidic circumcision rite causes shack (2/6/05)
    • Greetings New York from Evangelical Ohio (1/16/05)
    • The Legacy of John Paul II (4/405)
    • The case of a Theologian censored (4/20/05)

SECOND PLACE
Bruce Nolan, The Times-Picayune
    • A Pastor to the World: Millions Mourn the Passing of Pope John Paul II (4/3/05)
    • Benedict XVI: Joseph Ratzinger of Germany Elected 265th Pope (4/20/05)
    • The Governor Speaks (7/14/05)
    • Shepherds Tend to Scattered N.O. Flocks; Church Members Need Help, Hope, Housing (10/2/05)
    • The Call of St. Gabriel (11/28/05)

THIRD PLACE
James Davis, South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
    • The Story (3/20/05)
    • A pontiff of the people (4/3/05)
    • One word, many outlets (7/24/05)
    • Out of Ethiopia (9/8/05)
    • Rising from rubble (10/29/03)

Templeton Story of the Year

FIRST PLACE
Robert Sibley, The Ottawa Citizen
    • The Way of Shikoku (4/24/05-11/18/05)

SECOND PLACE
John Cochran, Congressional Quarterly
    • New Heaven, New Earth (sidebar) (10/17/05)

THIRD PLACE
William Lobdell, Los Angeles Times
    • Missionary's dark legacy (11/19/05)

2006 Finalists (for work published in 2005)

CASSELS
• Marshall Allen, Pasadena Star-News (Calif.)
• Betsey Bruner, The Arizona Daily Sun
• Daniel Burke, Lancaster (Pa.) New Era
• Maya Kremen, Herald News (West Patterson, N.J.)
• Gloria LaBounty, The Sun Chronicle (Attleboro, Mass.)
• Nicole Neroulias, San Mateo County (Calif.) Times
• Carol Reeves, Corvallis (Ore.) Gazette-Times
• Diane Reynolds, Carroll County (Md.) Times
• Linda Andrade Rodrigues, The Standard-Times (New Bedford, Mass.)

CHANDLER
• Patrick Cain, The Ohio State University
• Piet Levy, Northwestern University
• Leah Lohse, University of Missouri-Columbia
• Malorie Lucich, San Francisco State University
• Roy Maurer, Indiana University
• Nicole McKay, Southwest Minnesota State University
• Laura Misjak, Michigan State University
• Lacey Nadeau, Point Loma Nazarene University
• Ingrid Norton, University of Texas at Austin
• Jodie Oxman, University of Southern California

CORNELL
• John Chadwick, The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)
• Virginia de Leon, The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)
• Michael Gartland, The Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.)
• Jean Gordon, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, Miss.)
• Brad A. Greenberg, The Sun / Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Calif.)
• Jenny Jackson, The Ottawa Citizen (Ontario, Canada)
• Jane Lampman, The Christian Science Monitor
• Dana Massing, Erie (Pa.) Times-News
• R. Gregory Mellen Jr., (Long Beach, Calif.) Press-Telegram
• Jessica Ravitz, The Salt Lake Tribune

SCHACHERN LARGE (circulations over 100,000)
• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Editor: Kevin Austin
• The Dallas Morning News, Editor: Bruce Tomaso
• The Grand Rapids Press, Editor: Charles Honey
• Houston Chronicle, Editor: Richard Vara
• The Salt Lake Tribune, Editor: Peg McEntee

SCHACHERN SMALL (circulations under 100,000)
• The Huntsville (Ala.) Times, Editor: Kay Campbell
• Mobile (Ala.) Register, Editor: Debbie Lord/Cheryl Washington
• The Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.), Editor: Doug Pardue
• The Record (Kitchener, Cambridge, Waterloo), Editor: Harvey Taylor
• San Mateo (Calif.) County Times, Editor: Nicole Neroulias           

SUPPLE
• John Blake, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
• David Briggs, The (Cleveland, Ohio) Plain Dealer
• Sandi Dolbee, The San Diego Union-Tribune
• Kevin Eckstrom, Religion News Service
• Jennifer Garza, The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee
• Jennifer Berry Hawes, The Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.)
• Tom Heneghan, Reuters News Agency                        
• Margaret Ramirez, Chicago Tribune
• Douglas Todd, The Vancouver Sun (British Columbia, Canada)
• Jeffrey Weiss, The Dallas Morning News

TEMPLETON REPORTER
• Manya Brachear, Chicago Tribune
• James Davis, South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
• Kevin Eckstrom, Religion News Service
• Jennnifer Garza, The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee
• Jenny Jackson, The Ottawa (Ontario, Canada) Citizen
• Bruce Nolan, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.)
• Michael Paulson, The Boston Globe
• Margaret Ramirez, Chicago Tribune
• Gary Stern, The Journal News (White Plains, N.Y.)
• Jeffrey Weiss, The Dallas Morning News

TEMPLETON STORY
• Mariah Blake, Columbia Journalism Review
• David Briggs, The (Cleveland, Ohio) Plain Dealer
• John Cochran, Congressional Quarterly
• Nathan Dinsdale, The Santa Fe Reporter
• Michael Gartland, The Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.)
• Todd Lewan, Associated Press
• William Lobdell, Los Angeles Times
• Robert Sibley, Ottawa (Ontario, Canada) Citizen
• William C. Symonds, Business Week
• David Van Biema, TIME Magazine