It was a banner year for Alabama at this year’s Baptist Communicators Association Wilmer C. Fields Awards Competition, with the State Board of Missions (SBOM) taking home 10 awards, and other entities and individuals from Alabama receiving an additional 24 awards.
In the Public Relations Division, the SBOM Communications Services staff received a first place award in the Marketing Strategy category for the 2016 Church & Sexuality Conference. Their marketing efforts helped lead to an attendance of more than 600 participants at that conference.
In the Interactive Communication Division, Brian Harris and Bethany Rogers received a third place award for the BCMlink.org website, and Harris received a third place award in a Social Media category for a Youth Evangelism Conference Snapchat post. Harris is a former state missionary who now owns Harris Media Solutions, LLC, and Rogers is the communications specialist for Tuscaloosa County Baptist Association (TCBA) and a freelance communicator with the SBOM.
The SBOM received three awards in the Audio-Visual Communication Division. Doug Rogers and Bethany Rogers were awarded first place for the video “Doug Vance, Disaster Relief Volunteer,” one of three Week of Prayer videos produced for last year’s inaugural Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering. They also received a third place award in the same category for the “2016 Missions Volunteer of the Year” video. In addition, the Rogers and Rogers team was awarded third place in another video category for “Tim Haney – Grace from Tragedy,” a video produced as a resource for chaplain training, featuring a pastor reflecting on how his life and ministry have changed in the five years since a wave of deadly tornadoes passed through Alabama in 2011.
In the Design Division, Jesse Conte received a third place award in the Direct Mail category for “It All Makes Sense,” a postcard promoting the 2017 Children’s Choir Summit, and Bethany Rogers received a first place award in the Digital Ad, Series category for her work promoting Pursue 2017, a collegiate ministry event.
The SBOM received two awards in the Writing Division, both to Doug Rogers: a first place award in the Promotion or Advertising Copy category for “Disaster Hit Home,” an ad created to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the 2011 tornadoes and Alabama Baptists’ response; and a first place award in the Scripts category for “And Suddenly, Conflict Broke Out,” a sketch written for State Missionary Dale Huff’s retirement event.
In addition to the recognitions received by the SBOM, The Alabama Baptist received 13 awards, Samford University four awards, Montgomery First Baptist Church three awards, Birmingham-based video company Lantern Vision two awards, and TCBA one award. Also, Jennifer Rash of The Alabama Baptist and Bethany Rogers of TCBA combined to receive an award for “Belle Belle,” a documentary about Rash’s niece, Belle Mitchell, who passed away at age 7 in 2015 after a battle with cancer.
This year’s awards were handed out on Friday, April 21, as part of the annual Baptist Communicators Workshop in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. BCA is an organization made up of around 250 communications professionals serving in Southern Baptist agencies, state conventions, newspapers, universities, associations, churches, and other entities.
