BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, United States — Two Baha'i publications have won awards from the Religion Communicators Council (RCC), an interfaith association at work in print and electronic communication, marketing, and public relations.

Brilliant Star, a magazine for children and junior youth published by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, won an Award of Excellence -- and a Best of Class Award -- in the category for national magazines.

The awards were accepted by the magazine's editor, Amethel Parel-Sewell, on behalf of the Brilliant Star staff.

One Country, the newsletter of the Baha'i International Community, also won an Award of Excellence.

This was given to editor Brad Pokorny in the newspaper features category for a story titled "In Vanuatu, a proving ground for coconut oil as alternative fuel," which was published in the April-June 2003 issue.

The awards, known as the DeRose-Hinkhouse awards, were presented on 26 March 2004 at the Council's annual convention, held this year in Birmingham.

The awards recognize the achievements of RCC members who demonstrate excellence in their fields. Entries in various categories are judged by peers in local chapters across the country. The awards honor the late Victor DeRose and Paul M. Hinkhouse, leading lithographers in New York City.

"These awards validate the imagination and originality so plentiful in our RCC family," said Ronald T. Glusenkamp, chair of the DeRose-Hinkhouse awards and vice president of customer outreach for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Board of Pension in Minneapolis.

"They demonstrate the high quality of work that institutions receive from our RCC members."

Both award-winning publications have a presence on the World Wide Web.

More information about Brilliant Star can be found at http://www.brilliantstarmagazine.org. This year, Brilliant Star celebrates its 35th anniversary. The Award of Excellence and the Best of Class Award go to the magazine for its entire year of issues for 2003.

The Web address for One Country is http://www.onecountry.org, and the winning story can be read at http://www.onecountry.org/e151/e15101as_Deamer_profile.htm.

That story tells of the efforts of Tony Deamer, a Baha'i on the South Pacific island of Vanuatu, to invent and promote a new technology that makes it feasible to operate diesel automobiles on coconut oil instead of petroleum, which will help protect the environment. The Baha'i World News Service published a condensed version of the story at http://www.bahaiworldnews.org/story.cfm?storyid=238.

More information about the RCC can be found at its website at: http://www.religioncommunicators.org, where a complete list of DeRose-Hinkhouse Award winners can be found.

Established in 1929, the Council is celebrating its 75th anniversary as the oldest association of religion communicators in the United States.

There are eleven local chapters around the country which promote excellence in the communication of religious faith and values as well as understanding among diverse faith groups.