The Rev. Dr. Thomas Long spoke to the annual Day1 Benefit on Tuesday, March 24th 2009. The gala celebrated the 2009 Atlanta Community Leaders of Faith and kicked off a campaign to restore the historic archives of the Protestant Hour and Day1.
Community Leaders of Faith honorees for 2009 are:
- Ann Cramer, Director of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs for IBM North America (Episcopal Church).
- Bill Curry, Head Football Coach, Georgia State University (United Methodist Church).
- Mrs. J. Erskine (Gay) Love, Chair of the Board, Printpack (Presbyterian Church USA).
- Betty and Jean Mori, Owners of Mori Luggage & Gifts (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America).
- Spurgeon Richardson, recently retired president and CEO of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (Cooperative Baptist Fellowship).
- Alexis Scott, Publisher and CEO, The Atlanta Daily World (United Church of Christ).
Dr. Long, Bandy Professor of Preaching at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, spoke of the importance of Day1 as the voice of the mainline churches in the media today. He also announced the launch of a $1 million fundraising campaign to restore the enormous Protestant Hour media archives from 1945-1996 and make these resources available online.
Also participating in the program were the Rev. Dr. Debra Samuelson, Lutheran Church of the Redeemer; the Rev. Dr. William L. Self, Johns Creek Baptist Church; and the Rev. Canon Louis C. Schueddig, president of the Alliance for Christian Media. WSB-TV news anchor John Pruitt was the emcee for the evening.