Canadian Church Press 50th Anniversary Celebration

By Kristine Greenaway

The World Association for Christian Communication was a co-sponsor of the joint Canadian Church Press and Association of Roman Catholic Communicators of Canada conference, Witness to the Word Anniversary Convention, held in Toronto, Canada, from 3 – 5 May, 2007. The conference attracted over 70 church-based journalists from throughout the country. The ARCCC was celebrating its 25th anniversary while the CCP was celebrating its 50th annivesary.

Brian Stewart, a high-profile foreign correspondent with CBC-TV (Canada’s national public broadcast network) and Hugh McCullum, a veteran ecumencial journalist, were keynote speakers. Stewart told conference participants that when he goes on assignment to cover a conflict or natural disaster story, he first looks for where the church organizations are set up. “Find the churches and you’ll find the story,” he said.

Interesting resource books on display included Making the News; An Essential Guide for Effective Media Relations, a media relations handbook published by Canadian church publications house, Novalis, and written by John Longhurst, a Mennonite communications specialist. Longhurst is one of the founders of the Calgary-based Centre for Faith and the Media.