The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) has announced the 2012 Christian Book Award recipients and three Jordon Lifetime Achievement Award winners. The winners were recognized at the ECPA Awards banquet held Monday, April 30, during the association’s annual Executive Leadership Summit held near Chicago.

Book winners were announced in seven categories: Bibles, Bible Reference, Nonfiction, Fiction, Children, Inspiration and New Author, a brand-new category.

One finalist title, Nearing Home by Billy Graham (Thomas Nelson), received the top honor by being named the 2012 Christian Book of the Year for its profound impact and high judging scores for excellence.

Nearing Home is Graham’s first Christian Book of the Year, though he has received Gold Medallion Awards (Approaching Hoofbeats, 1984 and Just As I Am, 1998), as well as 15 Gold and Platinum Sales Awards. In addition, he received the association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990.

“We are delighted to honor Billy Graham’s work and his continued impact on so many lives,” said ECPA President and CEO Mark Kuyper. “We are also pleased to honor new authors in this year’s award program, and congratulate each Christian Book Award winning author and publisher for their good work and continued impact. Though content formats are changing, the desire for good Christian literature remains.”

The Christian Book Award winners were:

Bibles: ESV Student Study Bible (Crossway) 9781433523045

Bible Reference: Dictionary of Christian Spirituality, Glen G. Scorgie, general editor (Zondervan) 9780310290667

Children: The Story for Children: A Storybook Bible, Max Lucado, Randy Frazee and Karen Davis Hill; illustrated by Fausto Bianchi (Zonderkidz) 9780310719755

Fiction: The Queen, Steven James (Revell/ Baker Publishing Group) 9780800733032

Inspiration: The Law of Happiness, Henry Cloud (Howard Books) 9781439176993

New Author: Love Amid the Ashes, Mesu Andrews (Revell/ Baker Publishing Group) 9780800734077

Nonfiction: Close Enough to Hear God Breathe, Greg Paul (Thomas Nelson) 9781400203000

From hundreds of entry titles published in the last year, the Christian Book Awards select five finalists in each category based on editorial excellence and category-specific criteria. View the finalists and winners at www.christianbookexpo.com/christianbookawards.

The Jordon Lifetime Achievement Award was given to three recipients this year, publishing pioneers Gary and Carol Johnson and John R.W. Stott, honored posthumously.

InterVarsity Press Publisher Bob Fryling accepted the award on behalf of John Stott Ministries in recognition of Stott, who died last July. A respected leader in evangelicalism, Stott authored more than 50 books, which have been translated into more than 60 languages. His best-selling classic, Basic Christianity, reached ECPA’s double-Platinum sales status for more than 2 million sold, and other Stott titles have been awarded with ECPA Gold Medallion Awards (Between Two Worlds in 1983 and The Cross of Christ in 1988). ECPA also presented Stott with an International Award in 1992 for his encouragement of thoughtful biblical exposition and preaching.

Husband and wife team Gary Johnson (former president at Bethany House) and Carol Johnson (former vice president of editorial for fiction at Bethany House) received the award that recognizes their legacy of thousands of books, from Leonard Ravenhill’s Why Revival Tarries and Larry Christenson’s The Christian Family to the introduction of Janette Oke’s Love Comes Softly and Beverly Lewis’ The Shunning. 

“The Johnsons’ prescient vision for Christian fiction and their industry leadership have provided a driving force in the rise of the Christian fiction category to its current prominence,” Kuyper said. “Their commitment to excellence has been appreciated by readers and recognized through numerous industry awards, including ECPA’s Christian Book Awards, Gold Medallion Awards and Gold and Platinum Awards.”

Named in honor of Christian publishing veteran and former publisher of Word Publishing Charles “Kip” Jordon (1945-1997), the award is presented by ECPA for exceptional contributions to the Christian publishing industry.

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