RNA contest winners for 2008

READ THE 2008 CONTEST WINNER PRESS RELEASE

• Cassels
• Chandler
• Cornell
• Radio
• Schachern
• Supple
• Television
• Templeton

Links made available when possible.

Templeton Religion Reporter of the Year Award

FIRST
Michael Paulson, The Boston Globe
• From a Dorchester chop shop, a place to pray (link includes all four stories)
    • A call to serve, and to lead
    • A crisis year, a Christmas comeback
    • And who, now, will lead them?
• Church rift cuts deeper for brothers: Episcopal priests hold opposing views on gays

SECOND
Robert Sibley, The Ottawa Citizen
• Rethinking the revelation: Seeking religion in an age of reason
• Recovering reason: Faith and reason at loggerheads
• Lessons from a mountain (link not available)
• Why the Force is still with us
• Meditations on Advent: Hope

THIRD
Mark Pinsky, Orlando Sentinel
(see stories here)
• Scores lose jobs as Holy Land undergoes extreme makeover
• Priests' troubled pasts led here
• From storefronts to sanctuaries
• The new breed on the right
• Piety in partyland

Supple Religion Writer of the Year

FIRST
Michael Paulson, The Boston Globe
• From a Dorchester chop shop, a place to pray (link includes all four stories)
    • A call to serve, and to lead
    • A crisis year, a Christmas comeback
    • And who, now, will lead them?
• Church rift cuts deeper for brothers: Episcopal priests hold opposing views on gays
• Preaching Fashion: Minister advises clergy on style
• JFK's 7005s were a turning point

SECOND
Julian Guthrie, San Francisco Chronicle
• The Lost Parish: An unlikely band of believers launches a crusade...
• The Lost Parish: An agonizing battle to savev a church reaches the Vatican...
• The Lost Parish: After more than a decade without their church...

THIRD
Lee Lawrence, The Christian Science Monitor
• Military chaplains: Marines in Iraq look to pastor for answers to tough questions
• Military chaplains: An Orthodox rabbi mixes faith and patriotism in Afghanistan
• Military chaplains: Being a cog of conscience in the military killing machine
• Military chaplains: A Presbyterian pastor patrols with his flock of soldiers in Iraq
• Military chaplains: An Army captain keeps tough soldiers in touch with their softer side

Cassels Award: Religion Reporter of the Year—Small Newspapers

FIRST
Sara Schilling, Tri-City (Wash.) Herald
• Religion in public schools
• School helps straighten out troubled lives
• An explosion of faith in Umatilla
• Spreading the word...door by door
• What we believe

SECOND
Melissa Nann Burke, York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News
• Lucky (or Holy?) No. 777
• Sacred sound fading a bit
• Bishop's call to confession
• Pastor takes her place
• Spiritual counsel at a price

THIRD
Sarah Bruyn Jones, The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News
• Cultures, traditions mingle for Eid festivities
• 'Fragging' and Fellowship: Some churches use violent video games as tool for ministry
• No SSN? No license to marry
• Making their voices heard: Students say they aren't just the future of the Episcopal church, they are now.
• Not your typical church coffee: Coffee shops mix church culture and pop culture

Cornell Award: Religion Reporter of the Year—Mid-sized Newspapers

FIRST
Jennifer Green, The Ottawa Citizen
• Faith on Fire
• The Persecuted
• It's a heartbreaking thing
• Smudging ceremony
• Sacred heritage

SECOND
David Yonke, The (Toledo, Ohio) Blade
• Creation Museum's era dawns
• A Torah for all time
• Pope flexes his theological muscle
• A Rocky road to healing
• Church enlists devilish humor

THIRD
Peggy Fletcher Stack, The Salt Lake Tribune
• They've got a friend
• Saved by a stranger
• Latter Day: Nod to anarchy
• A Bonanza of His Own
• Grasping Mitt

Schachern Award: Best Religion Section or Pages

FIRST
The Salt Lake Tribune
Lisa Carricaburu
(links not available)

SECOND
Houston Chronicle
Betty Luman
(links not available)

THIRD
The Birmingham News
Greg Garrison
(links not available)

Chandler Award: Best Student Religion Reporter

FIRST
Heather Donckels, The Master's College
• GodTube offers a Christian alternative to YouTube
• Some Christians use "Hell Houses" to reach out on Halloween
• Does "Compass" point kids to atheism?

SECOND
Allison Ross, University of Missouri at Columbia
• People's synagogue
• In from the cold
• Finding faith through family

THIRD
Matthew Streib, Northwestern University (Baltimore, Md.)
• May the best son of man win
• Gay, Christian and Black
• When they can't knock on doors, Mormons rock out (link not available)

Best Television Reporting

FIRST
Kim Lawton, Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly (Washington, D.C.)
• Street Children of Brazil

SECOND
Lucky Severson, Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly (Washington, D.C.)
• Children of Polygamists

THIRD
Lucky Severson, Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly (Washington, D.C.)
• Circuit Preacher David Brown

Best Radio Religion Reporting

FIRST
Jason DeRose, Chicago Public Radio
• Dementia and Religion

SECOND
Simone Orendain, WFAE-90.7 (Charlotte, N.C.)
• Families of Abraham

THIRD
Jason DeRose, Chicago Public Radio
• Green Houses of Worship