Allan Sauer, who lives in Brisbane, explained that the ARPA encompasses religious publishers from within Australia and New Zealand, and said that any religious publishers who hold the 'triune faith' may apply to join.
There are three types of members within this Association.
First, there are religious groups with publications that have a distribution of more than 4000 printed copies per issue; second, those groups with less than 4000 printed copies (but which may include digital publications). Both of these groups have voting rights.
Third, there is a special category of Associate Members who are constitutionally unable to vote. These are individuals, not religious publishers, who have an interest in Christian writing. This group includes journalists, editors and people who have a passion for the Christian press.
"The Australasian Religious Press Association may be likened to a religious press trade union in so far as its religious publication members have a common interest, they network and support each other and lobby for their interests," Allan Sauer explained.
The benefits of being a part of ARPA is that journalists belonging to Christian publications can talk to their peers in Australia and New Zealand, they can learn from each other what is happening in their world of religious publication, particularly where many Christian publications are only staffed by one or two people.
The highlight of the year, Allan noted, was the annual conference where the employees of Christian publications and the Associate Members, many of whom are Christians in journalism, come together over a three day weekend.
As well as high-profile keynote speakers and plenary sessions, workshop programs are offered to delegates and this is a time where the professionalism of their craft is enhanced and encouraged. It gives many a chance to rethink their strategies, discuss their own ideas and receive the support within this network of people.
At the grand conference dinner, the awards are presented. This is when other professionals make the various acknowledgements for religious press writing. They also present the Gutenberg Shield, which is the most important award to a Christian publication for a major feature.
This year there were 400 entries in total for the twenty categories, illustrating how highly contested the awards are.
The beauty of the ARPA annual conference is that it brings together people from both sides of the religious press fence.
The staffers of Christian publications and professional writers can mix freely and share ideas with Christians who have an interest in writing, but are not professionals employed by a specific Christian publication.
This informal meeting of minds over coffee and meals provides fertile ground for fresh ideas to be nurtured and grow.
This Allan Sauer live television on the Internet can be viewed at
tv.bushorchestra.com and www.safeworlds.net