A freelance journalist from Dresden, Germany, is the latest recipient of the prestigious John Templeton prize for “European Religion Writer of the Year 2004”.
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Dr Tomas Gaertner accepted the prize, which acclaims the work of journalists who write about religion in the secular press with “accuracy, impartiality and with an ecumenical spirit”, at an award ceremony in the historical Church of the Three Kings in Dresden on 21 September.

The Dresden journalist was awarded the prize for his entry which included three articles published in the daily newspaper “Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten”.

“The articles he has submitted, although local in focus, address the broad issues of the place of religion in a highly secularised part of Europe, Eastern Germany,” said judges according to a Conference of European Churches press release, who administer the award on behalf of the John Templeton Foundation.

The judges added that Mr Gaertner “tells his stories with objectivity, permitting readers to draw their own conclusions rather than imposing judgements upon them”.

The Rev. Theodore Gill, Senior Editor of the World Council of Churches, presented the prize on behalf of the John Templeton Foundation, which includes a cheque for 5,000 Swiss Francs.

Oberkirchenrat Christof Vetter, spokesperson of the Evangelical Church in Germany, stressed the value of Gaertner’s reporting on the local church: “Church is where you can see the bell tower, where people meet to worship and to help each other.

“The Templeton Prize has been awarded to someone who does not write about grand assemblies and conferences, but about the grass-roots.”

Jochen Bohl, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony, also offered his praise to the journalist: “It is a high art to write about religion in a secular world.” Rev Bohl said, as a reader and a bishop, that he appreciated Dr Gaertner’s “solid knowledge of the church and of theological issues”.

In his acceptance speech, Dr Gaertner said he tries “to tell people about the church, not only Christians, but especially those who are strangers to the church”. He said that there were so many interesting stories to report on the church, “besides the three topics we are always beating to death: broken-down churches, not enough money, departing members.

“Not only is there a wealth of art in the churches, of unique examples of cultural history, of architecturally beauty,” he said. “There is also a wealth of people who don’t make pious speeches, but whose faith opens their eyes to the suffering of this world, and they are doing something about it in very practical ways.”