During an Awards Gala live-streamed from Nashville, TN on March 31, Michigan Conference Communications received six UMAC Awards. We love to tell the story. 

March 31, 2022 | NASHVILLE—Hundreds of United Methodist communicators were honored March 31 with an awards celebration live-streamed from McKendree United Methodist Church, Nashville, to communicators, bishops, and others across the denomination.
 
The celebration was a highlight of the United Methodist Association of Communicators’ annual gathering, held via Zoom March 30-31.
 
Work was submitted across 10 classes of communications, with a best in class for each, as well as first, second, and third place winners selected for each category. Also at the event, the group honored its 2022 Hall of Fame inductee, the Rev. Dr. Donald R. Wood, and its Communicator of the Year, the Rev. Dr. Maidstone Mulenga.
 
Masters of ceremony Diane Degnan (United Methodist Communications) and Rick Wolcott (East Ohio Conference of The UMC) led the awards ceremony, announcing winners in each class, division, and category.

Michigan Conference Communications received six awards:

1. News Article Category/Annual Conference/Local Church Division                                                                                        1st place, A Camp Remembered as a ‘Deciding Place’, M. Kay DeMoss
2. Non-Fiction Story Category/Annual Conference/Local Church Division                                                                                             2nd Place, She Showed Up and Did the Job, John E. Harnish
3. Non-Fiction Story Category/Annual Conference/Local Church Division
   3rd Place, A Lawyer with a Gift, Glenn M. Wagner
4. Blog Category/Annual Conference Division                                                                                                                                       2nd Place, Pondering with Mary, A Mask of Great Power, Picking Up the Pieces, Celebrating Michigan’s Deacons, Paul Perez
5. Streaming Category/Annual Conference                                                                                                                                           2nd Place, 2021 Virtual Michigan Annual Conference, MI Conference Communications Team
6. Video Production Category: costing more than $2,000                                                                                                          1st place, Come to the Well: Stories of Self Care: Busy Hands, Calm Mind, A Puzzling Solution, and Shake It Off, Michigan Conference Communications Team

The Rev. Jeremy Wicks, the pastor of Big Rapids First UMC, was a guest in an award-winning podcast of the General Commission Religion and Race: 3rd place to Racism, Police Reform, and Faith. 

For a complete list of award recipients, click here. 

The Rev. Maidstone Mulenga was honored by UMAC as Communicator of the Year. An ordained elder in the UMC, Mulenga serves as the director of communications for the UMC’s Council of Bishops. In this role, he manages and directs the internal and external communications of the council and oversees the development and implementation of a comprehensive communications strategy for the Council of Bishops. 

Council of Bishops President Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey introduced Mulenga, lifting up his extraordinary work on behalf of the COB. “Maidstone is first and foremost a servant of God and a servant of the church,” Harvey said. “If you’re looking at a model of what it means to be the UMC, you’re looking at him.”

The 2022 UMAC Hall of Fame inductee is the Rev. Dr. Don Wood. Wood served as the executive director of Good News Television (GNTV), a ministry of the South Georgia Annual Conference, until his retirement in 2012. James Salley, president and chief executive officer of Africa University (Tennessee) Inc., introduced Wood. Salley remarked, “Don Wood is a pastor, a communicator extraordinaire, and an entrepreneur.” 

Read more about the life and ministry of Rev. Maidstone Mulenga and Rev. Don Wood in the UMAC Program Booklet.

Last Updated on October 31, 2023