An award-winning Anglican Journal editorial has been included in a collection of the best religion writing in North America.
Good News; The Best Religion Writing in North America was recently published by Seabury Books, an imprint of Church Publishing Inc. (CPI), the publishing arm of the U.S. Episcopal Church. Among its 29 selections is an editorial by Leanne Larmondin that detailed the Journal’s reasons for declining to cover a 2004 gathering of Anglican Essentials Canada due to the organization’s requirement that participants (including media) sign a declaration of faith that included the phrase “adultery, fornication and homosexual unions are intimacies contrary to God’s design.” They were also asked to sign a “statement of repudiation and disassociation from the actions of the General Synod” on the matter of same-sex relationships. (Essentials is a group within the Anglican Church of Canada that upholds the traditional view that Scripture says homosexuality is sinful.)
While some readers protested the decision and asked why the Journal could not find an “orthodox” staff writer to cover the gathering on Essentials’ terms, the editorial explained the ethical quandary of professional journalists being asked to endorse publicly the beliefs of a group they are required to cover objectively. “If we as journalists compromise our integrity,” wrote Ms. Larmondin, “we damage the trust our readers have in our newspaper.” The Associated Church Press (ACP), North America’s oldest church press organization, awarded the editorial an honourable mention in 2005 for best newspaper editorial. ACP selected the entries for the Good News book.
Other writers included in the compilation book are Bill Moyers, PBS broadcaster and journalist, and Jim Wallis, author of God’s Politics and a founder of the Sojourners organization.
Good News is the second title in CPI’s Best Religion News Writing series. The book, edited by Debra A.Wagner, is available for purchase online at the Anglican Book Centre (ABC), www.anglicanbookcentre.com or by calling (416) 924-1332 or toll-free 1-800-268-1168.
