Christian Leader wins EPA award

USMB magazine wins “Best in Class” award for the fifth consecutive year

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The Christian Leader received a fifth-place award in the Evangelical Press Association Best in Class contest in the 3,001 to 9,000 circulation category.

In the Best in Class contest, EPA member publications are grouped by circulation and are invited to enter one issue of their publication to be judged in six areas, including design, use and quality of images, strength of writing and titling and “overall editorial punch.”

EPA announced the 2024 award winners Oct. 16.

“This award affirms the work of designer Shelley Kallsen and associate editor Janae Shafer,” says Connie Faber, editor.  “It also recognizes the excellent work of those who write feature department essays and columns, and the contributions of our freelance news writers. I so appreciate each one who helps make the Christian Leader a magazine that U.S. Mennonite Brethren can be proud of.”

Two judges evaluated each entry, with their scores averaged to determine placement. Judges commended the Christian Leader on its “cohesive and consistent” design and “simple, eye-catching” cover.

The judges also affirmed the editors for the “strong” theme carried out “consistently through the issue.”

The Christian Leader was judged on the May/June 2024 issue that focused on Moses’ encounter with God recorded in Exodus 3. Writers reflected on God’s leading in their lives. The judges found the theme to be “appropriate” for the magazine’s audience. “The theme was personally fortifying for me,” wrote one judge.

Up to five awards were made in each of eight categories, with a nearly even number of contestants in each category. For most magazines, contestants compete against a different group of magazines than in the Awards of Excellence contest where competition is divided by type of magazine. In addition to five categories for magazines, Best in Class categories included one for newspapers and two for websites, based on organizational size.

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 and fourth place awards in 2020 and 2023.

The Evangelical Press Association is a professional organization of Christian print and digital publications: magazines, newspapers, newsletters and content-driven websites.

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