Sydneyanglicans.net has won the most prestigious award for a Christian website taking out the Australasian Religious Press Association (ARPA) award for best website at an awards ceremony in Melbourne over the weekend.

Editor of Sydneyanglicans.net Mark Hadley says the award recognises the hard work of the whole Anglican Media Sydney team.

“It’s brilliant to receive the recognition, particularly for those staff members who slave away behind the stories,” Mr Hadley says.

“We’re glad that our vision of what a Christian website should deliver is the same as others.”

ARPA has 160 member publications across all Protestant denominations in Australia and New Zealand, as well as the Roman Catholic Church.

Other Sydney Anglicans to win an award included Southern Cross journalist Joseph Smith, highly commended in the devotional article category for his piece on former Canterbury Bulldogs Rugby League club CEO and member of St Paul’s Menai, Steve Mortimer.

Southern Cross was also highly commended in the best headline category.

Well-known Sydney Anglican apologetics expert, Dr Greg Clarke, director of CASE at New College, University of NSW, won Best Article in a Secular Newspaper for an op-ed piece published in the Sydney Morning Herald last Christmas.

Dr Clarke’s CASE magazine was also highly commended for Best Social Justice Article category for a feature by Dr Tom Frame on the Iraq war.

Other notable ARPA winners include Lauren Eyles, editor of Newcastle Diocese publication Anglican Encounter, who won two awards - best Newspaper Front Page and Best Regional Publication.

The Gutenberg Prize recognising overall excellence in religious journalism has been given post-humously to Marilyn Pryor.

ARPA President the Rev Robert Wiebusch says with ‘her untimely death’ it is important to recognise her leadership role amongst Maori people.