The Christian Leader has received a fifth-place award in the Evangelical Press Association 2025 “Best in Class” contest. Results were announced Oct. 16, 2025.
“Christian Leader magazine conveys its message with sincerity and purpose,” wrote one judge. “The publication’s focus on church planting was both encouraging and filled with helpful details about its history and opportunities.”
For the contest, print magazines competed for awards based on circulation, helping to level the playing field for publications of all sizes. This contest differs from the Awards of Excellence, where competition is divided by type of magazine.
The Christian Leader competed in Class C for magazines with circulations between 4,001-10,000.
Two judges critiqued the design and editorial content of a single issue. The Christian Leader was judged on the March/April 2025 issue, which focused on church planting.
Criteria used in judging included cover design, quality and use of imagery, overall design, quality of writing, strength of titling and overall editorial punch.
One judge praised the writing as “clear and approachable,” while suggesting ways to increase visual impact. The other judge commended the contents page and suggested an overall balance between text and images.
“It’s an honor to be a part of a publication striving for excellence to the glory of God,” says Christian Leader editor Lacey Scully. “Seeing Christian Leader recognized inspires me to lean in to bring people closer to the Lord through engaging content and design.”
Christian Leader has received an award in the Best in Class contest every year since the contest was introduced in 2020. The magazine received a first-place award in 2022, a third-place award in 2021, fourth-place awards in 2020 and 2023 and a fifth-place award in 2024.
Janae Rempel Shafer is the Christian Leader associate editor. She joined the CL staff in September 2017 with six years of experience as a professional journalist. Shafer is an award-winning writer, having received three 2016 Kansas Press Association Awards of Excellence and two Evangelical Press Association Higher Goals awards in 2022 and 2025. Shafer graduated from Tabor College in 2010 with a bachelor of arts in Communications/Journalism and Biblical/Religious Studies. She and her husband, Austin, attend Ridgepoint Church in Wichita, Kansas.
