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Religion News Association honors Bobby Ross Jr. with Supple Award for Feature Writing
The Awards for Excellence in Religion Reporting showcase outstanding journalism across all media.
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PITTSBURGH — Bobby Ross Jr., editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle, received the nation’s top award for religion feature writing at a ceremony Saturday night at the Andy Warhol Museum.
The Religion News Association presented Ross with the Supple Award for Feature Writing during its 75th anniversary convention in Pittsburgh.
Jodi Rudoren, editor-in-chief of The Forward, a leading publication for American Jews, won second place. Ruth Graham, the Dallas-based religion reporter for the New York Times, earned third place.
Bobby Ross Jr. at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, where he received the Religion News Association’s Supple Award for Feature Writing. He’s pictured by a cardboard cutout of Adelle M. Banks, recipient of RNA’s 2024 William A. Reed Lifetime Achievement Award.
“It’s crazy to be mentioned in the same category as such amazing writers, much less take home the top prize,” said Ross, a former Associated Press religion writer who joined the Chronicle staff in 2005. “But I’m deeply grateful for the recognition and so thankful to still be earning a living writing and editing stories after 34 years in full-time journalism.”
Ross was honored for a portfolio of articles he wrote last year:
• A two-story package for the Chronicle on Christians welcoming Afghan refugees to Oklahoma and Texas.
• An in-depth feature for Religion Unplugged on why Major League Baseball teams host faith nights.
• A narrative piece for AP on the one-year anniversary of a hostage standoff at a Texas synagogue.
RNA’s Awards for Excellence in Religion Reporting showcase outstanding journalism across 13 categories spanning print, online and broadcast media as well as nonfiction books.
Cheryl Mann Bacon, a Chronicle contributing editor, was picked as a finalist for RNA’s commentary award for her column on “Why libraries are important to an open society.”
Last year, Erik Tryggestad, the newspaper’s president and CEO as well as its lead international reporter, captured RNA’s top prize for magazine and non-daily newspaper reporting for his coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Bobby Ross Jr. accepts the Religion News Association’s Supple Award for Feature Writing at a banquet in Pittsburgh.
Ross previously won RNA’s top awards for religion news analysis (2023) and magazine reporting (2013). He has placed in the contest four other times — in 2022, 2021, 2019 and 2015 — and earned recognition as a finalist seven times.
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