| Conference communicators reap top honors By Melissa Lauber
UMCONNECTION STAFF The Baltimore-Washington Conference recently received several top honors for its communication efforts from the United Methodist Association of Communicators. The UMConnection was named best newspaper in the denomination by the communicators, who met in Las Vegas for their annual meeting Oct. 15. The video “Stir It Up!” which explores the ministry of the conference Board of Congregational Life also won for best video costing more than $10,000. “The entire Baltimore-Washington Conference is proud of our communication staff for the excellent ministry they provide,” said Bishop John R. Schol. “It is a true team effort that includes the staff and the many laity and clergy across the conference who participate in this ministry. This prioritization of communication assists our overall ministry and I encourage all of our congregations to also make excellent communication a priority.” The UMConnection, which is published semimonthly by the conference’s communication’s department and has a circulation of almost 10,000, was awarded the Robert F. Storey Award of Excellence for Newspapers. The judges noted the “well-designed pages” and “good solid writing.” “We were thrilled to win this award,” said the Rev. Erik Alsgaard, managing editor and co-director of communications. “God has blessed us with talented staff and writers, and an annual conference that understands and supports the important ministry of communications in making disciples for Jesus Christ.” John Coleman, communications co-director, received an Award of Excellence for his production of the “Stir It Up!” video. “This piece makes the concept of new churches and development of ministries exciting and interesting. It not only explains the ideas, it shows the results. Great job!” the judges wrote. In addition, Coleman was honored for the supplement to the June 9 UMConnection, “Stir it Up! Fan the Flame!” which was named the best special selection or supplement produced by an annual conference. “We’re excited about the awards for ‘Stir It Up!’, both the video and the newspaper supplement,” said Coleman. “Together, they communicate the wide-ranging, innovative work that our Board of Congregational Life is doing to help churches, church leaders and new faith communities reach their potential. It is one of the most significant commitments that this conference is making toward the goal of nurturing disciples for Jesus Christ.” Several certificates of merit were awarded to Coleman and conference staff people Melissa Lauber and Linda Worthington for their writing. The Rev. Dean Snyder, pastor of Foundry UMC, was also awarded two certificates of merit for editorials he published in the denominational press. At the communicators’ meeting, Alsgaard was voted president of the association for the next two years. UMAC is a professional communications fellowship open to any United Methodist working in the field of communications, or any person working in the field of United Methodist communications. For more information, call Alsgaard at (800) 492-2525, Ext. 425. | 
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