Nominations Forms

Norvell Slater Annual Awards

Dallas - Fort Worth Chapter

2009 Awards Luncheon held April 16, 2009
Honoring work done in 2008!

The Norvell Slater Communications Awards were established in 1996 in honor of the late Norvell Slater. Mr. Slater was an outstanding radio broadcaster whose career spanned 60+ years in the radio broadcast field. He was heard on the radio in the Dallas/Fort Worth area since the earliest days of broadcasting here. He was one the stars on the very popular Early Birds Radio program in the 1930s and 1940s and was responsible for several WFAA-TV programs in the beginning years of television broadcasting. For more than 40 of those years, he was host of the program "Hymns We Love," which featured a wide repertoire of hymns and religious music.

Mr. Slater was a charter member of the Dallas Chapter of the Religious Public Relations Council (now known as the Religion Communicators Council). He was an able communicator of the values of faith through his love of music and for the Church and was able to do this in both secular and religious media. The Norvell Slater Awards recognize individuals or organizations that follow his example of communicating faith values.

Norvell Slater's sister Estelle was a large part of her brother's ministry for many years. Pictured at right, with Chapter Members Nanette Geeo and Deb Christian, Estelle has been an honored guest at many of our luncheons.

Three Awards were given for work done in 2008

Three Slater Awards are presented annually to honor outstanding achievement in communication of faith values through the media in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. This year's awardees are pictured here with Estelle Slater. They are, from left to right:

- Commercial Communicator of the year is given to a secular/commercial media organization or a person in such an organization that effectively communicates faith values. (This year's awardee is Mike Ghouse)

- Lifetime Communicator of the year is presented to a person whose lifetime career has effectively communicated faith values. (This year's awardee is John Lovelace)

- Religion Communicator of the year goes to a church or a religious organization or a person in such an organization effectively communicating faith values. (This year's awardee is Larry James, Central Dallas Ministries)

The awards are presented at a luncheon in early spring for work done the previous year. A committee made up of chapter members chooses the awardees. Chapter members are encouraged to make nominations for any or all of the three categories.

Past recipients include:

Work done in 2007

Work done in 2006

Work done in 2005

Work done in 2004

Work done in 2003

Work done in 2002

Kambiz Rafraf – Religion Communicator (Public Information Officer and current chair of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'i of Dallas)

Weir's Furniture Village – Commercial Communicator (for significant witness to faith through business practices and advertising campaigns)

Orville Scott – Lifetime Communicator (long career as a journalist including more than 30 years with Baptist Communications)

Work done in 2001

Mark Brown - Religious Communicator (Director of Marketing for American Tract Society)

Marcus Stewart - Commercial Communicator (researcher and copy editor for Dallas Morning News Religion Section)

Doug Dillard - Lifetime Communicator (creativity consultant, former cartoonist for Baptist Standard)

Other past recipients include Dr. Charles Swindoll, who was president of Dallas Theological Seminary as Religion Communicator; Dallas Morning News Religion Section as Commercial Communicator; Helen Parmley, religion editor for Dallas Morning News for 22 years, as Lifetime Communicator.

Norvell Slater, a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Seminary in Fort Worth (as is his sister, Estelle), was a charter member of our Chapter. He helped to found it in the mid-1960s. He always came to our meetings, although he was the busiest person I've ever known!

Along with being on the radio all those years, he was also a Minister of Music for Baptist Churches and was Public Service Director for WFAA-TV Channel 8. He was in front of the camera and behind the scenes for several Channel 8 TV programs in the beginning years of TV.

When Norvell died, several of us decided we needed to do something in his honor. The three awards represent what Norvell did in his career: being a paid employee for Religion (churches), Commercial (radio and TV) and being an outstanding Life Achiever, in both, usually at the same time!

Norvell was a celebrity and people were always very excited to meet him. He was the most genuinely positive, supportive, and loving person you could ever meet.