PRESS RELEASE
ANGLICAN HOUSE PUBLISHERS ANNOUNCES THE WINNERS OF THE
2022 ARCHBISHOP’S ANNUAL SUMMER ESSAY CONTEST
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
30 November 2022
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
The Rev. Dr. Joyce Miriam Brooks, Sr. VP Communication
revdrjoyce@anglicanhousepublishers.org
Newport Beach, CA—The winners of the 2022 Archbishop’s Annual Summer Essay Contest were announced today by Anglican House Publishers, the sponsoring organization for the contest. For this year, the Most Reverend Dr. Foley Beach, Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church in North America, invited entrants to “submit an essay telling how the church can effectively deal with controversial social issues of the day, while being true to the Gospel and remaining loving to the people.”
The contest was open to both lay and clergy participants. The clergy category was open to ACNA priests and deacons. The lay category was open to lay persons who were active members of an ACNA church.
The total number of essays submitted were 79, with 27 from clergy and 52 from laity. This is an increase from a total of 57 submissions in 2021. Anglican House Publishers thanks everyone who submitted an essay for consideration.
Archbishop Beach commented on the essays which were submitted:
I am grateful that so many took up the challenge to wrestle with how the church can remain faithful to the Gospel and demonstrate the love of Christ while facing the controversial social issues of our day. I am also impressed by the variety of approaches recommended by the essay writers. We all can learn from their counsel. I encourage everyone to read and thoughtfully consider the winning essays.
The top winners in the Clergy Category are:
First Prize, The Rev. Mark Brians from Honolulu, Hawaii for his essay “On Parrhesia and Gospel Witness.”
Second Prize, The Rev. Travis J. Bott from Nashotah, Wisconsin for his essay, “Strange New World in the Prayer Book: The Sovereign Self and the Psalter’s Invitation.”
Third Prize, The Rev. Logan Gates from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada for his essay, “Genesis and Rousseau: A Tale of Two Falls.”
The top winners in the Lay Category are:
First Prize, Joshua Heavin from Farmers Branch, Texas for his essay, “The Eternal Crisis of the Gospel and Long-Term Spiritual Formation in a Stopgap Society.”
Second Prize, Todd Milton from Appomattox, Virginia, for his essay, “On a Simple Approach to Ministry ‘During These Uncertain Times.’”
Third Prize, Elizabeth Demmon from Annandale, Virginia, for her essay, “The Kitchen Table as a Platform for Change: Fasting in an Age of Division.”
The first prize essay in each category will be posted on the Anglican Church in North America’s website. All six winning essays are available on the Anglican House Publishers’ website at www.anglicanhousepublishers.org.
In addition to thanks and congratulations, each first-place winner will receive a trophy and a prize of $2,500, each second-place winner will receive a trophy and a prize of $1,500, and each third-place winner will receive a trophy and a prize of $1,000.
The topic for next year’s Archbishop’s Summer Essay Contest will be announced in May 2023.
Anglican House Media Ministry is a 501(c)3 nonprofit Ministry Partner of the Anglican Church in North America. You may visit us at anglicanhousepublishers.org
