DALLAS (ABP) — The board of the nation's only independent news service for Baptists honored two leaders of Baptist communications and a Dallas congregation for their contributions to the cause of Christian journalism April 27.
Meeting in Dallas, directors of Associated Baptist Press also adopted a final 2007 budget and unanimously agreed to move ahead with a business plan for a strategic partnership between ABP, the Texas Baptist Standard and other Baptist publications.
The news agency gives three different honors to individuals and organizations that its directors believe have stood tall for religious liberty and press freedom. ABP bestowed all three at a banquet, honoring Baptist pioneer W.C. Fields, journalist Ken Camp and Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas.
Fields, who for 28 years worked as director of the Southern Baptist Convention's Baptist Press news service, received the 2007 ABP Religious Freedom Award. Marv Knox, editor of the Baptist Standard, called Fields “a leader of integrity” who understood the importance of telling Baptists the complete and accurate story — even when that was not what denominational leaders wanted.
“Freedom has been a central theme and a central concern in Baptist life from the very beginning,” Knox said, adding that Fields “stood in rooms where it was very uncomfortable at times, for all of us.”
Fields, in directing the SBC's news agency, built it from a loose network of Baptist state newspapers into a daily news service whose journalistic integrity commanded the respect of religious and secular publications alike. Other denominational news agencies have since modeled their operations on the Baptist Press of Fields' era, Knox noted.
In his acceptance speech, Fields said news outlets must still aim to tell difficult stories, especially in light of a “regional experience out of which Southern Baptists have become part of, this folk faith.”
“One of the greatest threats to true religion, undefiled, in America in our time is this … homegrown religion,” he said. “There is a counterfeit religion in this country that needs replacing with the real thing.”
That folk religion “has frequently done more to canonize prejudice than to wrestle for truth,” Fields continued. And instead of faith acting in “quiet commitment,” it often becomes empty activity out of “institutional loyalty,” he said.
Wilshire Pastor George Mason, who accepted the ABP Founders Award on the congregation's behalf, said his church was thrilled to be honored on the same night as Fields and Camp.
“Often we have seen that we've, in a sense, gone out early and others have followed, and I'm grateful that that is being recognized this night,” he said.
Greg Warner, ABP's executive editor, also praised the Wilshire congregation as “a pioneer.” In 1997, the church committed $50,000 in support for FaithWorks magazine, which was published for six years by ABP but was discontinued in 2003. It was aimed at younger Baptists and other Christians who wanted news, analysis and theological resources. Wilshire “saw the vision behind that and the need for Baptists to reach out to that group,” he said.
The award, which honors support for ABP's mission, has previously been given to two other local churches: Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas and Northminster Baptist Church in Jackson, Miss.
Camp, managing editor of the Baptist Standard, received the ABP Writer's Award for his ongoing contributions to Baptist journalism. Previously the director of communications for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, Camp became managing editor of the Standard in 2004. The Standard is the BGCT's newspaper.
Each year, ABP carries scores of stories under Camp's byline. Warner said the award recognizes Camp's entire body of work, rather than one single achievement.
“Without his contributions, we would be a significantly smaller news organization,” Warner said. “He is our most prolific contributor outside of our staff.”
In two days of meetings leading up to the awards banquet, ABP's directors approved, without dissent, a draft business plan for its new venture with the Standard. The collaborative effort will enable both organizations and other Baptist publications to coordinate newsgathering efforts, share resources and streamline the distribution of news to readers.
Mark Sanders, chairman of an ad hoc ABP board committee on the partnership effort, reported that he was encouraged after a joint meeting April 26 with members of a counterpart committee of the Standard board. “You know, the work of ABP has always been noble and has always been rewarding, but leaving our meeting today, I don't think it's ever been this exciting,” he said. Sanders is a lobbyist from Athens, Ga.
ABP directors also gave final approval to a 2007 budget of $ $551,218. Warner told board members the organization ended the previous fiscal year in good shape.
“We finished 2006 [with] probably our strongest finish ever … with a surplus of $32,000,” he said.
However, Warner noted that receipts for the first quarter of 2007 had been sluggish. The slow giving was partially due, he said, to the departure of the news service's chief fundraising officer. Tim Norton resigned as ABP's development director in February to join the staff of the First Baptist Church of Knoxville, Tenn.
Nonetheless, he added, the agency's staff had cut operating expenses significantly in recent months through measures such as moving to a virtual-office model. ABP's five employees now operate out of four different cities — Jacksonville, Fla.; Dallas; New York and Washington. An Internet telephone system has cut expenses, he said, as has closing ABP's former headquarters office in Jacksonville, with the two remaining employees at that location moving to home offices.
ABP's next board meeting is scheduled for Sept. 17-18 in Richmond, Va.
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