The Schachern Award—an RNA contest founded in 1969 to honor newspaper religion sections—will now honor multimedia coverage. The extended deadline for entries is Friday, Feb. 5, 2010, for online content appearing in 2009.

Changes recommended by the RNA Contest Committee and approved by the RNA Board this year also expand the eligibility of RNA contests to both traditional and independent, online-only news sites. Online religion sections also continue to be eligible for the award.

Entries to the revised Schachern Award will be judged first on the quality of reporting and writing, and secondly on the best use of multimedia techniques and digital resources. For more details about Schachern contest rules, see http://www.rna.org/?page=schachern

In addition to allowing multimedia submissions to the Schachern contest, RNA will also begin using an online only submission process for its eight award categories. The contest will no longer allow printed, paper, CD or videotaped entries.

Earlier this month, the RNA Board approved reducing the number of stories required for most contests, in order to ease the submission, costs and administration of the contests. The online submissions will save RNA the cost of bundling and shipping entries to the dozen or more contest judges used each year.

The contests affected are Cassels, Cornell, and Supple. The required number of stories for each of these contests was reduced by two. Chandler and Schachern already require only three submissions per entry.

See RNA’s contest pages for details about the file formats accepted and other information you’ll need to meet the Feb. 5, 2010, deadline.

Contact Debra Mason for more information.

###

Releasing this February, JESUS FREAK: Feeding * Healing * Raising The Dead (Jossey-Bass, a Wiley imprint), tells the gritty, sometimes funny, always moving stories of those who courageously respond to Jesus’ call to feed the hungry, heal the sick, cast out demons, cleanse the ritually unclean, forgive sins, and even raise the dead. “It doesn’t take a special kind of person,” she writes, “– the selfish and obtuse are welcome, too. It doesn’t take a lot of equipment, or training – little kids can lead. Jesus is still with us, which means we can say yes to God’s call, without knowing what the outcome will be.”

Miles, author of 2007’s widely praised memoir, Take This Bread, shows, in vivid, heartbreakingly honest prose, how the ordinary people around her are transformed by taking up God’s work in the world. Publishers Weekly raves, “Miles’s obvious homiletic gifts infuse the narrative: startling metaphors (Jesus as promiscuous Boyfriend “who’ll go with anyone”) combine with honest self-reflection and a wry sense of humor, prodding the reader to take ownership of Christ’s commands to serve, feed, and heal.”

A guide for everyone who yearns for “life, abundant,”, JESUS FREAK offers readers an inspiring and empowering reading of the Gospel, and a glimpse of what is possible when Jesus’ teachings are acted upon.

Sara Miles is the founder and director of The Food Pantry, and serves as Director of Ministry at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. Her other books include Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion, and her writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the New Yorker, and on National Public Radio. She is available for commentary on poor people who are sick of charity, church people who are sick of church, and gay people who love Jesus.

Her website is: www.saramiles.net.

To request an interview or complimentary review copy of the book, please contact publicist Erin Lane Beam by telephone at (415) 782-3213 or by email at ebeam@wiley.com.

Media Contact: Erin Lane Beam, (415) 782-3213 / ebeam@wiley.com

###

This 6th Conference was attended by 400 doctors and medical professionals from 30 nations including USA and Italy, and was represented by many medical doctors from Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and many other Russian-speaking nations.

During the Conference, an Australian Doctor Irene Jacovou presented a healing case of a 68-year-old man, as the most outstanding case presented. In 2003, he was diagnosed to have severe emphysema, asthma and alpha 1 anti-trypsin deficiency, and had a bilateral lung transplant and received immunosuppressive therapy. In 2008, he noticed a skin lesion on the top of the right shoulder, which was later found to be a malignant tumor. He was diagnosed with skin cancer and was surgically treated, but it recurred. In October, 2008, cancer cells metastasized to chest and lungs, and he was sentenced to live just a few months longer because of this cancer. In winter of that same year he attended a Christian healing prayer meeting and tumor regression started. All the tumors in his skin were gone through fervent prayers, and the CT scan showed that lung metastases disappeared.

A Ukrainian Doctor Larisa presented the case of healing of hepatitis C, confirmed by the person of the case appearing at the conference firsthand and testifying to his healing. Another Australian doctor Mieke Kuiper presented the case of healing of eclampsia and subarachnoid hemorrhage by prayer. Two Korean doctors presented the cases of healing of the infected cystic mass in the submandibular area and the retroperitoneal necrotizing fascitis due to perforated acute appendicitis, with scientific and medical data confirming the healing cases. In addition, many cases of the healing of various diseases including schizophrenia, pancreonecrosis, and AIDS were presented at the conference.

Dan Wooding, Founder and International Director of Assist News Ministry said, “At the same time that Ukrainian candidates are battling each other for votes in the upcoming Presidential election, Christian doctors gathering in Kiev, the country’s capital for a “Spirituality and Medicine” conference, have already cast their vote–for “miracles.”

WCDN was organized to medically analyze divine healing cases performed by God, clarify the data before and after the healing and testify with that data as to existence of God and the authenticity of the Bible. WCDN aims to work with intellectual people including medical doctors and scientists. They have held annual international Christian medical conferences in Seoul, Korea, Chennai, India, Cebu City, Philippines, Miami, USA, Trondheim, Norway, Kiev, Ukraine. www.wcdn.org

Media Contact: Kimberly Shin, 82-2-818-7039, shallom2002_7@hotmail.com

Now, in this highly anticipated biography, Prophet of Purpose: The Life of Rick Warren (Doubleday Religion, on sale November 3, 2009), award-winning author and journalist Jeffery Sheler traces the road Warren has traveled, the influences in his life, his trials and tribulations, and the opposition he has encountered along the way.

Sheler, who had unprecedented access to Warren and those closest to him, presents an intimate and objective portrait of Warren as a man of faith and vision but also of flesh and blood and human foibles–a pastor, communicator, philanthropist, and family man who is driven by a sense of divine purpose.

Unlike any book before it, Prophet of Purpose brings Warren and his mission to life and provides a provocative glimpse into the potential future of Christianity in America.

“A compelling read about a man in the middle of so many of the issues of our time.” —Senator John F. Kerry

“Prophet of Purpose is essential for anyone who wants to understand America’s most prominent pastor and the tectonic shifts on the religious landscape he represents.” — David Neff, Editor-in-chief of Christianity Today

Prophet of Purpose: The Life of Rick Warren
Doubleday Religion Publishing Group • Biography• November 3, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-385-52395-0• Hardcover • 320 Pages • $22.99 U.S. / $27.99 CAN

Review copies, interviews and excerpts available upon request.
Visit www.ProphetofPurpose.com for more information.

RNA Active Members are eligible to receive 30 percent off the cost of a year’s subscription to Knowledgewebb, an online, multimedia, do-it-yourself training center.

With the discount, active members pay just $90 for unlimited access to more than 150 self-guided courses, webinars, live chats with a dozen recognized experts and “smart room” threads on topics such as creating soundslides, measuring social media, Twitter basics, shooting video and more.

Knowledgewebb also offers personalized training for members via a new service called CustomCurriculum, a customized learning plan based on personality, career goals and work style.

All events, training, courses, webinars and live chats are included in the membership fee, which works out to about $7.50 a month—or the cost of two Starbucks lattes!

See a complete list of RNA’s member benefits and find out how to sign up today. More information about Knowledgewebb is available here.

###

Such questions will be discussed more fully at an extraordinary one-day conference, “Religious Practice and the Family: What the Research Says, ” set for Thursday, Oct. 29, at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C.

Sociologists have observed a family revolution marked by dramatic increases in divorce,  cohabitation and nonmarital childbearing. But a growing number of social scientists are researching how religious practice is influencing these trends and proving beneficial in the creation, health and longevity of the family.

Sponsored by The Heritage Foundation, the free conference will run from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and feature a roster of top academics who bring a wealth of experience and data to an important, little-understood issue.
“Anyone interested in the connection between religion and family stability will want to attend this event—journalists, policymakers, researchers, and counselors,” says Jennifer Marshall, director of Heritages’s DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society.

One contributor, Annette Mahoney, a researcher from BowlingGreen State University, notes that couples who identify with a specific faith and regularly attend religious services tend to be more satisfied with their marriages. Couples often show more satisfaction in the marriage when they pray for each other, view their union  as sacred, and engage in spiritual activities that enhance communication.

The research is complex and nuanced across denominational affiliation. But according to Brad Wilcox, a professor at the University of Virginia, changes in the American family “pose a crisis of institutional survival to religion in the United States.”

In fact, the research indicates that “the fortunes of American religion rise and fall, at least in part, with the fortunes of the intact, married family,” Wilcox says.

Noted sociologist and University of Notre Dame professor Christian Smith will present the keynote luncheon address, offering the good and bad news on religious practice to fill out the common stereotype of American adolescents and teens.

Smith is co-author of the book “Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers,” in which  he encourages youth leaders to adjust their paradigm of ministry.

“Most religious communities’ central problem is not teen rebellion but teenagers’ benign ‘whateverism.’ ” he writes. “Huge numbers of U.S. teenagers are currently in congregations, feel okay about them, mostly plan to continue to stay involved at some level, and generally feel fine about the adults in their congregations. But the congregation simply does not mean that much or make much sense to many of them.”

Hosted by Heritage with research partners Child Trends and Baylor Institute for the Studies of Religion, “Religious Practice and Health” is supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

For details on the event and to register at no charge, visit heritage.org/ReligionResearchConference.

###
Contact: Jessica Prol (202) 608-1503
Editorial / Broadcast Services
(202) 675-1761

Centennial, Colo.—International Christian music sensation Hillsong United makes its U.S. big screen debut featuring their inspirational “The I Heart Revolution” project in “Hillsong United: We’re All In This Together” special in-theater event on Wednesday, Nov. 4th at 7:30 p.m. EST / 6:30 p.m. CST / 5:30 p.m. MST and 8:00 p.m. PST (tape delay). Hosted LIVE from Australia, this one-night exclusive event includes a LIVE performance by the internationally recognized band followed by their documentary, “The I Heart Revolution: We’re All In This Together.” Audiences in movie theaters nationwide are invited to join Hillsong United in their cross-cultural journey through six continents, 42 nations and 93 cities where they encountered people of faith addressing human slavery, child soldiers, displaced refugees, extreme poverty and other global concerns.

Tickets to “Hillsong United: We’re All In This Together” event are available at participating theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com. For a complete list of theater locations and prices, please visit the web site (theaters and participants may be subject to change).

Presented by NCM Fathom and Different Drummer, this unique event will feature a LIVE introduction by lead singer Joel Houston, followed by a performance from Hillsong United LIVE from their home church in Sydney and conclude with the debut of their cause-based documentary “The I Heart Revolution: We’re All In This Together.” Filmed over two years, the documentary follows the band as they are confronted by the stories of remarkable individuals facing injustice and hardships around the globe. Hillsong United: We’re All In This Together will inspire audiences in movie theaters nationwide during this event to join those who are changing the world by putting their faith into action.

“The I Heart Revolution: We’re All in This Together” documentary is the second of the three-part “The I Heart Revolution” project – a movement of people helping people. The first installment, launched last year as a CD+DVD; “With Hearts as One,” captured the sound of Hillsong United’s collective worship and their passion toward Christ. IHeart.org, an online community with the sole purpose of offline action of sharing ideas and inspiring users to be part of the solution by transforming local initiatives into a collaborative global impact, is the third and final part of the project.

Hillsong United began in Sydney, Australia as the youth movement in Hillsong Church. Over a decade later, the band travels globally with a message of justice to raise awareness about poverty, natural disaster relief, equality, human rights and health issues affecting the world.

Hillsong United: We’re All In This Together appears in high-definition with Cinema Surround Sound in select movie theaters through NCM’s exclusive Digital Broadcast Network.

For more information about NCM or Fathom events, visit www.ncm.com.

# # #

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Michelle Portillo
NCM Fathom                                    
(303) 792-8651                         
michelle.portillo@ncm.com

(Oct. 5, 2009)—In the first faith-based guidebook on microfinance and employment-based solutions for reducing global poverty, Peter Greer and Phil Smith, authors of “The Poor Will Be Glad: Joining The Revolution To Lift The World Out of Poverty” [Zondervan, Nov ’09], (www.ThePoorWillBeGlad.com), introduce the Christian community to the idea of seriously reducing global poverty through microfinance.

“This is a critical time for the Church in America to fight poverty in a way that demonstrates what the Church stands for and not only what it stands against,” said Peter Greer.

“If the Church gets on-board with microfinance, what an opportunity to really impact the world in the alleviation of global poverty, and in the fulfillment of the Christian message to serve the poor,” said Phil Smith.

“Instead of handouts, small loans for as little as $50, given to a poor working mother to launch a fruit/vegetable stand at the market, a little convenience store or a beauty parlor shop outside her home—lifts this Mom and her family out of chronic poverty onto the road of self-sufficiency,” said Greer.

Authors Peter Greer, CEO of HOPE International, a Christian microfinance humanitarian organization, and Phil Smith, a philanthropist and former oil executive, suggest that most traditional forms of charitable giving by the Church have been short-term, unintentionally perpetuating the unending cycle of poverty in the developing world.

In interviews with the authors upon the completion of their book, Mr. Greer said: “While 120 million poor working families are currently served through the microfinance movement, faith-based initiatives are serving only 2 million; and according to the World Bank, 800 million families who stand to benefit from microfinance still have no access to it.  Faith-based groups are currently serving only .2% of the 920 million people who are either on microfinance programs or the greater number who have not yet been reached.”

“The Christian Church—Protestant denominations and Catholics—have the organizational capacity to rally huge support for microfinance contributions here in America. With their physical presences and church infrastructure in Africa, Latin America and Asia, they have a major distribution capability that can reach the poorest across the face of the developing world,” said Phil Smith.

“The Poor Will Be Glad” explores the wide range of services offered by MFI’s, which inform clients and communities about everything from business training to breast feeding to life skills education. The book is also rich with information about Micro-Schools; Micro-Pharmacies; Animal Loans (for the raising and care of farm animals); Housing Loans; Job Training; Agricultural Finance Education; Business Training; Micro-Insurance. The book also explores SCA’s (Savings & Credit Associations); and Corporate Partnerships (e.g., Grameen Dannon Foods bringing healthy daily nutrition to poor people).

For author interviews, contact: Mike Schwager, Worldlink Media, 954-423-4414, 954-732-6647 cell, moschwager@aol.com.