The Melbourne Anglican newspaper has won gold and silver awards; and The Gippsland Anglican newspaper a Gold award in different categories of the Australasian Religious Press Association awards. The presentations were made at the association’s conference in Brisbane at the weekend. The Melbourne Anglican won a gold medal for Best Faith Reflection; and two silver medals for Best Theological Article and Best Editorial or Opinion Piece. The Gippsland Anglican was presented with the gold medal for Best Regional Publication.

But The Melbourne Anglican lost its “Publication of the Year” title to the Salvation Army’s new in-house magazine Others. While the association’s top award, the Gutenberg Award, went to New Zealand’s Baptist magazine.

The Melbourne Anglican’s gold medal for Best Faith Reflection was awarded for “If grief is overwhelming, how do we cope?”, an article on grief by Nils von Kalm, the Church and Community Engagement Coordinator for Anglican Overseas Aid.

The Melbourne Anglican’s silver award for Best Theological Article was given to Canon Professor Dorothy Lee, Research Professor at Trinity Theological College, for a piece on “Scripture, Male Headship and Abuse” .

And their silver award for Best Editorial or Opinion Piece went to Peter Corney, the Emeritus Vicar of St Hilary’s Kew, for a piece entitled “Van Gogh Speaks to Yearning for Transcendent”.

Explaining their award of Best Regional Publication to The Gippsland Anglican, the judges said that its “open format . . . invites the reader in, and its 12 pages cover a wide range of topics: devotional reflections, profiles, social issues, well-written news stories from around the diocese (with well-chosen pictures), reviews, a prayer diary and a diocesan calendar.”