Al Horton inducted into United Methodist
Association of Communicators’ Hall of Fame
The Rev. Al Horton addresses the United Methodist Association
of Communicators after being inducted into the Hall of Fame. |
The Rev. Al Horton, senior pastor at First United Methodist Church of Charlottesville, was inducted into the United Methodist Association of Communicators’ Hall of Fame, Oct. 19, for his years of service to the church as Virginia Conference Advocate editor and director of Communications.
The denomination’s communicators concluded their meeting in Arlington last week at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, just a short distance from where Horton first got involved with the United Methodist Church as a Boy Scout at Arlington Temple UMC.
Horton is a past-president of the association, and was named Communicator of the Year in 2002. He served on the Virginia Conference staff from 1986-2001 and oversaw the transition to new forms of technology, bringing computers, video and electronic mail into the conference office. He stepped away from the position in 2001 to return to the pastorate and was appointed to Mount Pisgah UMC.
In accepting the honor, Horton said he hoped that bishops of the church and other leaders would better understand the important role that communicators play in helping churches, districts and conferences spread the gospel message of Jesus Christ throughout the world.
Horton graduated from The College of William & Mary and earned an MDiv and ThM at Duke Divinity School. He and his wife, Cheryl, have three adult sons.
The Virginia Conference Communications office also fared well in the organization’s annual awards competition. The Virginia United Methodist Advocate received honors in the Print Media/Magazine category, and designer Cathryn Wooton was honored with an Award of Excellence for the magazine’s redesign this summer. Wooton was also recognized for her work on the conference’s annual “Mission Opportunities” guidebook in the Print Media/Special Publications category, and for her design of Bishop Young Jin Cho’s introductory brochure and DVD sent to Southeastern Jurisdiction delegates in the Campaign Materials category. Advocate Editor Neill Caldwell was honored in the Writing/Editorials category.
Pheath Ram and Linda Rhodes were honored in the Video Production classification for their work on the video tribute to Bishop Charlene Kammerer during her retirement recognition at 2012 Annual Conference.
Caldwell was one of several United Methodist News Service contributors honored for website content during 2012 General Conference in the Digital Media category.
Kathryn Witte of the Nebraska Conference and Lisa Diehl of the Kansas West Conference were co-winners of the organization’s annual Communicator of the Year award for their combined work as those two conferences merge.
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