Best Profile Story
Zadock Perspectives
Gold
‘A Short Biography of Robert Banks’ by Gordon Preece
This article intended “to bring honour to the prophet in his own country” and it succeeded in doing that. It was a short biography but one of the longer articles submitted for this category.
It gave an enthusiastic comprehensive view of a person of significance. It dealt with Robert Banks’s theological education, his career in academia, and his publications, showing how the subject’s radical biblical views pushed him to radical action. The article built a picture of Banks’s personality and behaviour; it showed how he related to his wife and children and to colleagues and students; it included the devastation of the death of Banks’s spouse and his joy at a second marriage.
The profile of his life was based on the writer’s own experience of Robert Banks but also quoted from other people. It certainly did show the basic humanity of the subject in a very warm appraisal.
The long article was divided very helpfully into three acts and an epilogue: 1. early academia, 2. independent scholar-practitioner, 3. Fuller Theological seminary professor, and then the time since the death of his first wife to the present. The structure, impeccable syntax and grammar made this article a joy to read and comprehend.
Silver
The Southern Cross
‘Called to find the face of Christ in the streets’ by Jenny Brinkwo
This article very nicely traces the life of Fr Steve Sinn SJ showing how his early call to faith as a child has motivated his whole life and ministry: ‘holding up before God the worries, the concerns and anxieties of all the people I know”.
The article tells of his ministry as a teacher, Director of Corpus Christ, (a place for homeless men), parish priest at Kings Cross, and now leader of The Bridge community for ex-prisoners. The author interweaves her factual information of his life and ministry with extensive quotes from the subject himself, so she really lets him tell his story of his relationships with the homeless, the outcast and unlovable and his firm beliefs which motivate and sustain him.
A worthy subject is given worthy treatment in this journalistic style piece of writing, and there reader certainly feels drawn to admiration of the subject.
Bronze
Aurora
‘Mum’s cottage is the place to be’ by Brooke Robinson
As a judge, I pondered several articles as possible Bronze award winners, but kept coming back to this very short profile because of the vivacity of the writing which recreated the atmosphere of the organization,
Mum’s Cottage. She outlines her experience at Mum’s cottage, the welcome she received, her introduction to the organisers and volunteers, some stories of particular people helped there, interwoven with an explanation of the purpose and actions of the establishment. She brings out her theme, that Mum’s Cottage is a place of welcome, with expertise.
To read the Judges Comments - ARPA web site
https://www.arpa.news/awards2020
Dr Mark Tronson - a 4 min video
Chairman – Well-Being Australia
Baptist Minister 45 years
- 1984 - Australian cricket team chaplain 17 years (Ret)
- 2001 - Life After Cricket (18 years Ret)
- 2009 - Olympic Ministry Medal – presented by Carl Lewis
- 2019 - The Gutenberg - (ARPA Christian Media premier award)
Gutenberg video - 2min 14sec
Married to Delma for 45 years with 4 children and 6 grand children