Day 112 May 23

Communications competition celebrates work of magazines

The winners of the Church of Ireland Central Communications Board’s communications competition were today announced at the General Synod, which is taking place in Clayton White’s Hotel, Wexford.

This year’s competition focused on print media in the Church of Ireland and celebrated the work of writers, designers and editors whose consistent and creative work produces our magazines throughout the year.

The competition was kindly sponsored by Ecclesiastical Insurance and prizes were presented by the Chair of the Central Communications Board, Bishop Pat Storey, and Scott Hayes from Ecclesiastical Insurance.

In the parishes category, first place went to Union Focus – the magazine for Naas Union of Parishes in the Diocese of Meath and Kildare.  The competition judge commended this “properly hefty publication with a broad range of content that goes well beyond the ‘what’s on’ and ‘who’s who’ material that should be the essence of a parish magazine.”  Plenty of photographs accompanied a well–chosen mix of short and long articles. The comments continued: “It’s clear that Union Focus is put together by a team who take great pride in the magazine and who appreciate the continuing importance of the printed word at a time when it is complemented by digital platforms.”

The runner–up, The Messenger from Magheralin Parish, in the Diocese of Down and Dromore, is “a vibrant, colourful magazine with strong design” with a discipline of its typefaces and page layouts from which others could learn.  The magazine conveyed “a strong sense of a church that’s active in and reaching out to its community.”

The following magazines were highly commended for their quality:

• The Pointer, Clonallon and Warrenpoint with Kilbroney (Down and Dromore)

• St Patrick’s Press, Greystones (Dublin and Glendalough)

• The Columban, Knock (Down and Dromore)

• Magheragall Parish News (Connor)

The Diocese of Connor’s diocesan magazine, Connor Connections, was the winner in the diocesan category.  The winning entry “packs tremendous quality into its 24 pages, giving a diocesan–wide audience to some powerful stories which deserve to be heard beyond parishes.”  The magazine “conveys a sense of a church at work for the common good in the diocese and beyond.”

The runner–up was n:vision, from the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe, which combines the traditional round–up of news from parishes in the diocese as well as interesting general stories: “A strong design and layout give n:vision a quality sheen. The children’s pages are vibrant and the drawings for the ‘cover competition’ give the magazine a sense of energy.”

A further category welcomed entries from organisations affiliated with the Church of Ireland.  In first place was InMission from the CMS Ireland missionary agency – a “professionally produced magazine gives a good overview of the mission agency’s work and campaigns here and overseas.”

Focus, the Mothers’ Union All Ireland magazine, was the runner–up. This magazine, the judge concluded, is “clearly put together on a small budget but more than makes up for it in heart and the dedication of its members to serve Christ.”  The Ukrainian Teddy Bear project and the campaign to raise awareness of violence against women “show how this organisation remains endlessly relevant.”