The Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions was honored with 10 awards in the 50th annual W.C. Fields Awards Competition held as part of the Baptist Communicators Association 60th annual meeting and workshop. The awards ceremony was held at the Ridgecrest Baptist Conference Center in Ridgecrest, N.C., on Friday, April 11, 2014.

In the public relations division, the office of Communications Services received a 3rd place award in the special events category for the Praying Across Alabama campaign, a focus on praying for spiritual renewal and revival in Alabama which centered around prayer meetings held at or near every county courthouse in early 2013.

In the video division, Bethany Rogers won two awards:

– Video editorial feature, more than 5 minutes – 1st place for the Firewood Giveaway Ministry (long version)

– Video editorial feature, less than 5 minutes – 2nd place for the Firewood Giveaway Ministry (short version)

Bethany, daughter of State Missionary Doug Rogers, has done several freelance projects for the State Board of Missions and now works as the communications specialist at the Tuscaloosa County Baptist Association (tuscaloosacba.com).

In the writing division, State Missionary Doug Rogers was awarded 2nd place in the scripts category for Changing Lives Through Campus Ministries, written for and presented at the 2013 State Convention Annual Meeting.

In the design division, State Missionary Jesse Conte was honored with six awards:

– Advertising, specialty item – 1st place for the Sing Your Song T-shirt, designed for the 2013 Mix Music Camp

– Advertising, specialty item – 2nd place for the One Mission Students Luggage Tag

– Advertising, specialty item – 3rd place for the Be The One T-shirt, designed for collegiate missions volunteers to wear while on the mission field

(These three awards constituted a sweep of that category for Jesse!)

– Brochure – 2nd place for a Church Planting brochure

– Brochure – 3rd place for a Church Revitalization brochure

– Special display – 3rd place for the One Mission Students Prayer Walk, which was first used at the 2013 State Convention Annual Meeting

Two Alabama Baptist entities also received honors, including the University of Mobile which received eight awards in the public relations, interactive communications, feature writing, and design divisions; and The Alabama Baptist, which received an award in the feature writing division for an editorial written by Bob Terry. 

The awards competition is open to all Southern Baptist communicators who are members of Baptist Communicators Association, meaning the entries above were judged against other state conventions, colleges and universities, state newspapers, children’s homes, and national and international missions agencies.