Peter Bentley on closing a ministry
It was fifty years ago …
It is a melancholy task closing an organisation, but it can also be illuminating and fascinating, particularly when the records are concerned. The Australasian Religious Press Association held its final Conference in September 2024 and was only recently deregistered after a somewhat laborious process. I think it was far easier to set an organisation up in 1974 than to close in 2024.
As the custodian of the archives, I have been preparing these important records for hopefully a longer life, and it has been enriching to read about the service and witness of ARPA and its member publications, particularly in the early decades.
The inaugural copy of the internal ARPA Bulletin has a wonderful photo of the first President, Bruce Upton, providing a suitable bow as he welcomed the then Governor-General Sir Paul Hasluck to the first ARPA convention, aptly held in Canberra in 1974.
One small document that secured my early focus was ‘The best religious journalism of 1975’, outlining the winners of the ARPA awards for 1975. This was the second year, and the award categories were still developing. At the final awards in 2021, there were nearly three times the number of categories. In examining the winning entries of 1975, four factors stood out.
1. They were all print publications.
2. It was mostly denominationally focused, and the editors were male, except for Christian Woman.
3. Some publications have ceased or have been re-named, though a handful continue to this day, even in print (and of course online). The Methodist publications denoted this was before the Uniting Church union and the adoption of new names.
4. 1975 had seen significant Australian and international events, and these were covered by church publications, highlighted by the contributions that received awards.
Best Story on Social Justice: ‘The Aurukun Affair’ (the approval of mining by the Queensland Government).
Best Piece of Reporting: ‘How We Fled Timor – Nuns’ (the story of 25 Canossian Nuns who left Dili by cargo ship and RAAF plane and their arrival in Australia).
Best Editorial: ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’ (on the end of the Vietnam War and the fall of Saigon).
Best Feature: ‘Noise Maker for God’ (Rev. Joshua Daimoi’s installation as the first National Executive Secretary of the newly independent Bible Society of Papua New Guinea in the year of independence for PNG).
I recognised quite a few names among the authors, including some who continued to be actively involved in Christian media and wider service well into the 2000s. You may know or have heard of some of the awardees and publications as well?
I am hoping that I will discover more items of interest along the way of removing staples and sorting.
Peter Bentley
November 2025; pkbentley archive