Religion Communicators Council Honors ELCA Pastor Martin Marty

     CHANTILLY, Va. (ELCA) -- The Religion Communicators Council
(RCC) presented the Rev. Martin E. Marty, Chicago, with a special
Wilbur Award for promoting open, public discourse on religion.
Marty, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
was honored April 5 during a banquet closing the RCC's 79th
annual convention.
     Marty is the author of more than 50 books and more than
5,000 articles, essays, papers, chapters and forewords.
     "In the second half of the 20th century, no name was more
recognized in the field of religion than Dr. Marty's, and few
have contributed as much through writings and commentary to the
public discourse of religion," said Philip Poole, RCC president,
Birmingham, Ala.
     Marty is the sixth person in the 60-year history of the
Wilbur Awards to receive special recognition.  Named for Marvin
C. Wilbur, a pioneer in religion public relations, Wilbur Awards
are given annually to secular journalists, authors, broadcasters
and film producers for outstanding work addressing religious
issues, themes and values.
     The RCC presented 11 other Wilbur Awards for work completed
in 2007. Winners included The Wall Street Journal, CBS News, the
Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and producers of the feature film
"Amazing Grace."
     Marty, 80, retired in 1998 after 35 years at the University
of Chicago, teaching the history of modern Christianity in its
Divinity School, where the Martin Marty Center promotes "public
religion" efforts.  He has served on the staff of The Christian
Century since 1956 and edited Context, a newsletter on religion
and culture, since 1969.  He contributes to Sightings, an
electronic editorial published by the Marty Center.
     A graduate of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and the
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Marty earned a doctorate
in 1956 from the University of Chicago.  He served as pastor of
Grace Lutheran Church, River Forest, Ill., and Holy Spirit
Lutheran Church, Elk Grove Village, Ill., before joining the
University of Chicago faculty.
     He and his wife Harriet, a musician, are the parents of
seven children, including two foster children.
     RCC is an international interfaith association of religion
communicators in print and electronic communication, marketing
and public relations.
-- -- --
     A complete list of Wilbur Award winners is at
http://www.religioncommunicators.org/wilbur.html on the Web.
More information about the Rev. Martin E. Marty is at
http://www.illuminos.com/ on the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog