To engage high school students in church-state issues and to generate interest from a wide range of Baptists, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty has launched the 2008 Religious Liberty Essay Contest.
Open to all Baptist high school students in the classes of 2008 and 2009, the contest offers a grand prize of $1,000 and a trip to Washington, D.C. Second prize is $500, and third prize is $100.
Winners will be announced in the summer of 2008 and will be featured in the BJC's flagship publication, Report from the Capital. The grand prize winner will also be recognized at the BJC board meeting in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 6, 2008.
The topic for the 2008 contest is: In a 700-1000 word essay, discuss the relevance of religious faith to politics, including whether and to what extent faith should be an election issue in 2008. All entries must be postmarked by March 3, 2008.
New to the 2008 contest, students must have a submission coordinator review his or her essay before submitting it. Coordinators must be a staff member from the student's home church and cannot be a parent. The coordinator reviews the essay to ensure that it meets all the necessary requirements, is free of typographical and grammatical errors and appropriately addresses the topic. A submission coordinator may work with more than one student.
Essays will be judged on the depth of their content and the skill with which they are written. Students should demonstrate a sound knowledge of the subject matter and support their assertions and provide bibliographical references. Essays that do not meet the minimum qualifications will not be judged.
Visit www.BJConline.org/ contest to download registration materials and a promotional flier. For more information, contact Phallan Davis at (202) 544-4226 or e-mail her at pdavis@BJConline.org.