Best Editorial / Opinion piece
Gold
AURORA
The abortion argument’ by Bishop Bill Wright, September 201
This opinion piece tackles a topic many in the media shy away from these days. But Bishop Bill Wright’s arguments are simple and cogent – providing evidence, without condemning others. It is well-written and well-presented. Bravo! Aurora
Silver
Eternity
A thought-provoking article on the controversial Gillette “#metoo” advertisement. The analysis of the popular 74-year-old song, Baby it’s cold outside, is particularly telling. Is it really “date rape”? Re-read the lyrics!‘ The abortion argument’ by Bishop Bill Wright, September 2019'The greatest shave has been a long time coming’ by John Sandeman, 21 Jan 2019
Bronze
The Melbourne Anglican‘
The Pentecostals are coming. Are we ready?’ by Rev Dr Mark Durie, May 2019
The rise of Pentecostalism is the elephant in the cathedral. There are now more people in the (Pentecostal) Australian Christian Churches each Sunday than in any other Protestant denomination. The lower Pentecostal age profile means that before long, their members may also outnumber Catholics at Mass. Well worth a read – it’s on the web.
Best Column
Gold
Madonna
‘Raise a glass’ by Michael McGirr
A good anecdote is the key to any magazine column. McGirr's story of the couple and their champagne glasses, which then transforms into a reflection on the nature of relationships and the nature of glass and Christ's light is a simple but kaleidoscopic piece of writing. McGirr shows a depth of human and artistic wisdom which makes him stand out as one of the Australian religious press'best writers.
Silver
Zadok Perspectives
A reflection on why being good and ethical is not quite enough. It is a great example of a type of "questioning column" - which opens up deeply personal questions for the reader and at the same time gives them some basis for which to start a conversation with friends and family about a topic. I like the line: "It seems to me that the Way of Jesus Christ requires regular communal top ups." ‘Raise a glass’ by Michael McGirr ‘A spirituality of church on Sundays’ by Alison Sampson
Best Theological Article
GOLD
NZ Baptist
An article concerned with the need for us to reorient our understanding of Christian missional endeavour from being like a ‘missional host’, seeking to persuade people to accept our invitation to come into our space, to being a‘missional guest’, seeking to be welcomed into another’s space.
The article is unpretentious yet profound. It is accessibly and engagingly written, moving on fidently from the author’s personal experience, to Jesus’s role in the gospels as a guest more often than a host, to the stories from Acts about Peter in the household of Cornelius, to a discussion of being a missional guest rather than a missional host.
Some fresh insights on Peter and Cornelius’s household are displayed. There is a straightforward expression in the article which suggest that it may have started life as a sermon. The understanding of the imperative in missional endeavour for the surrendering of power is well presented. This idea is not new to missiology, but it may well be novel to many church congregations across the denominational spectrum and is absolutely essential for the contemporary Church. This gives the article a scope of vision and a clearrelevance.
Silver
Zadok Perspectives
‘Host and Guests in the Mission of God – Surrendering Power’ by George Wieland
In this article, Jason Goroncy argues that street art—in its antitheses, vulnerability, redefinition of proprietorship, in its concerns with alienation, poverty, greed and violence, and in its use of symbols and rituals — is ametaphor for the gospel. Further, street art has the capacity to communicate to people outside of the traditional faith communities who would otherwise remain untouched by the gospel.
This is very exciting entry and I very much enjoyed reading it. It presents ideas which, though mainly not original, need to be made available to a wider Australian audience. The article is well referenced, including to overseas theoretical material.I suspect that the content would not be as immediately accessible as that of some of the other entries, but it is nevertheless appropriate for Zadok’s readership.
The article presents an argument important to the field of missiology, but it contains very little overt theologising or use of Scripture. It was also not entirely clear to me from reading the article what its main purpose is. Is the article seeking to bring to the attention of the reader the richness of street art and its relationship to Christianity, or to commend street art (which of its nature is anarchic) as a strategic tool for mission in the postmodern era, or to recommend that Christians make more effort to ‘read’ street art? Or is it all three or none of the above?
Bronze
The Melbourne Anglican
‘NT’s women show us God’s inclusive plan’ by The Revd Canon Prof Dorothy A. Lee FAHA, September 2019
This entry provides us with a remarkably concise yet comprehensive summary of the place of women in the economy of God, as recorded in the New Testament. The article discusses the evidence of the gospels, and the Pauline and Deutero-Pauline epistles. The article concludes that the New Testament attests to the equality of women and men within the home and the church, as well as in the secular arena, and that ‘complementarianism’ is not in accord with the scriptural evidence.
The article is remarkable for covering a great deal of ground in a most easily accessible way. It is a valuable resource in one page and shows the fruits of the author’s very extensive research and writing experience in this field.
To read the Judges Comments - ARPA web site
https://www.arpa.news/awards2020
Dr Mark Tronson is a Baptist minister (retired) who served as the Australian cricket team chaplain for 17 years (2000 ret) and established Life After Cricket in 2001. He was recognised by the Olympic Ministry Medal in 2009 presented by Carl Lewis Olympian of the Century. He mentors young writers and has written 24 books, and enjoys writing. He is married to Delma, with four adult children and grand-children. Dr Tronson writes a daily article for Christian Today Australia (since 2008) and in November 2016 established Christian Today New Zealand. Dr Mark Tronson’s Press Service International in 2019 was awarded the Australasian Religious Press Association’s premier award, The Gutenberg. In September 2020 Summer Moore presented her commission portrait of Dr Mark Tronson holding the Gutenberg plaque. The above photo is the upper part from this portrait.
Mark Tronson's archive of articles can be viewed at: http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/mark-tronson.html
