The Australasian Religious Press Association (ARPA) commences tomorrow in Christchurch New Zealand.
Friday 6 September - there is an optional Chistchurch City Tram Ride at 9.00am. registration follows at 11.00am, the welcome lunch at 12noon, with the first session at 1.30pm discussing (interactive) the changes in communications.
3.30pm “When a city falls” award winning film director Gerard Smyth takes the floor and at 4.45pm the Christchurch terror attack come under the microscope.
Saturday 7 September
The AGM of ARPA is up first with both the current President Peter Bentley handing on the baton and long serving teasurer Allan Sauer likewise.
11.00am is a session on the student volunteer army led by Sam Johnson who is such an entrepreneur. Then after lunch is another Christchurch quake session and finally at 3.30pm how the church and media might best handled dramatic events – Christchurch seems to be the centre of gravity with such.
Annual Awards Dinner
Rosie Fyfe is addressing the dinner guests – Rosie the national director of NZCMS – Rosie has served in Egypt when the Arab Spring held sway living through two revolutions with hope filled responses.
Who will be ARPA’s Gutenberg Winner for 2019 and the Ramon Williams Youth Scholarship - along with all the other specific awards from best articles to best layouts and the rest of them. This is the annual event that show cases the best of religious media in Australia and New Zealand.
Two of our young writers have been nominated and won such ARPA awards. In 2015 Auckland’s Casey Murray was an ARPA GOLD and in 2017 Sophia Sinclair won the Ramon Williams Youth Scholarship.
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.
Mark Tronson's archive of articles can be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/mark-tronson.html
Dr Mark Tronson - a 4 min video
Chairman – Well-Being Australia
Baptist Minister 45 years
- 1984 - Australian cricket team chaplain 17 years (Ret)
- 2001 - Life After Cricket (18 years Ret)
- 2009 - Olympic Ministry Medal – presented by Carl Lewis
- 2019 - The Gutenberg - (ARPA Christian Media premier award)
Gutenberg video - 2min 14sec
Married to Delma for 45 years with 4 children and 6 grand children
