Organization’s top awards honors work by secular media on issues of faith completed in 2025
The Religion Communicators Council welcomes individuals, groups, and organizations working in the secular (non-religious) media to participate in the 2026 Wilbur Awards.
The Wilbur Awards honor excellence in communicating religious issues, themes, and values in several categories, including Audio (podcast, radio), Audio-Visual (film, television, and social media), Images (illustration and photography), and Written (books, magazines, and newspapers). Entries will be accepted in English and non-English (with English translations provided).
Past winners include AP, Atlantic, CBC, Harper Collins, Los Angeles Times, NBC News, Netflix, NPR, Penguin Random Home, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Religion News Service, RTE, 60 Minutes, and more.
After the Wilbur Awards Ceremony, all entrants will receive judges’ ballots, with comments and scores on their entry. Each winning entry receives a hand-crafted stained glass award. All entries must be received by January 31, 2026.
The award, which is named for the late Marvin C. Wilbur, a pioneer in religious public relations, longtime council leader and former Presbyterian Church executive, will be presented Friday, April 17, in Cincinnati during the RCC’s annual convention, “Coming Together, Charting Our Course.”
For more information about the 2026 Wilbur Awards, including the entry form, please visit wilbur-awards-entry-form. Questions may be directed to: [email protected]
The Religion Communicators Council has presented Wilbur Awards annually since 1949. Juries of media professionals, coordinated by council members across the country, evaluate submissions on content, creativity, impact and excellence in communicating religious values.
The RCC also honors excellence for work published by religious media, including religious organizations, religion-based organizations, or religious-adjacent organizations. If work has been distributed by such an organization, we invite participation in the 2026 DeRose-Hinkhouse Awards; deadline for this award program is also January 31, 2026.
The 2026 DeRose-Hinkhouse awards will also be presented at RCC’s annual conference in April. For more information about the 2026 DeRose Awards, please visit: derose-hinkhouse-memorial-awards-entry-form.
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About the Religion Communicators Council
The Religion Communicators Council (RCC), founded in 1929, is an association of communications professionals who work for and with a diverse group of faith-based organizations in the areas of communications, public relations, marketing and development.
About the RCC’s Annual Convention
The 2026 annual convention, “Coming Together, Charting Our Course,” will be held April 16-18, 2026, in Cincinnati. Keynote presentations and workshops will include topics such as interfaith dialogue, website and social media analytics, how to keep up with new technologies, crisis management, photography, fundraising, and polarization and conflict, and more. For more information, Convention 2026 | Religion Communicators Council.
Contact:
Ginny Hizer
Religion Communicators Council (RCC)
[email protected]
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RNS or Religion News Foundation.
