‘Baptizing America’ Wins Top Award From Religion Communicators Council

‘A Public Witness’ also garners two Best in Class awards.

The Religion Communicators Council, an interfaith organization of communications professionals, named Baptizing America the top book of 2024. The RCC last night (April 24) also presented A Public Witness with two Best in Class Awards for writing and photography.

Founded in 1929, the RCC brings together leading faith-based professionals in journalism, public relations, advertising, and development. Each year, the RCC gives out its DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards to recognize excellence in religious communications and public relations. The group also presents its Wilbur Awards to recognize excellence in religious coverage by secular media.

During the annual DeRose-Hinkhouse awards banquet, held this year in Salt Lake City, Brian Kaylor and Beau Underwood’s book Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism won the “Non-Fiction: Adult – Single Work” book category and the overall Best in Class for Books.

“As the dangers of Christian Nationalism drew more attention, we recognized there was a critical element missing in the conversation: the role of mainline and progressive Christians in this ideology’s rising influence,” Underwood said. “This award — and all those who have invested time reading the book — offers a humbling validation of our argument. Hopefully this will draw more attention to our claim that addressing this scourge in both church and society requires a more honest assessment of how we arrived at this troubling place.”

In addition to the award for Baptizing America, two pieces published by A Public Witness also took home top honors from the RCC. Kaylor’s piece “When ‘Jesus’ Becomes a MAGA Rally Chant” won the “Editorial – Single Work” category and Best in Class in Specialized Writing. And Kaylor’s photo essay “Our Lord in the Attic” won the feature photograph series category and Best in Class in Artwork.

Three other entries from Word&Way also received RCC awards. Unsettling Advent, a seasonal pop-up e-newsletter launched four years ago, won the “Editorial – Series” category for the fourth straight year. Additionally, two A Public Witness pieces by Kaylor won an “Award of Merit” (RCC’s third-place award in a category): “Strengthening the Church-State Wall to Protect Democracy” in the magazine news article category and “What Congress Reveals About the Methodist Schism” in the magazine feature article category.

The Best in Class awards for Baptizing America and A Public Witness. (Jeremy Fuzy/Word&Way)

“These awards are particularly significant for a small team like ours and they demonstrate our commitment to quality journalism. But it’s also a community effort because none of these would be possible without the support of our paid subscribers to A Public Witness,” Kaylor said. “The award for Baptizing America is particularly encouraging. Because of the book, we’ve had many excellent conversations with podcasts, publications, and churches about mainline Protestants and Christian Nationalism. But there’s clearly much more work to do, so we hope this will inspire others to grab the book.”

In addition to the award from the RCC, Baptizing America was Chalice Press’s best-selling book in 2024. It’s also been positively reviewed by Baptist News Global, Church & State, Sojourners, The Christian Century, The Living Church, The Presbyterian Outlook, and other publications.