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This is the first in an occasional series of interviews with respected journalists who write about faith and religion — both for the secular media and the church press. I’m so excited that the first interviewee is one of the nation’s premier religion writers: Ann Rodgers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Read some of her recent stories here.

Name: Ann Rodgers

Bio: Native of Palo Alto, Calif.  B.S. in journalism from Northwestern University, Master of Theological Studies from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Worked at newspapers in Concord, N.H. and Fort Myers, Fla, before taking job as religion reporter for the Pittsburgh Press (later bought by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) in 1988. Recipient of numerous awards for religion writing in the secular media, including the Religion Newswriters Association’s Templeton Reporter of the Year Award. Current vice president of the Religion Newswriters Association, which trains journalists to cover all faiths with fairness, accuracy and civility. Married, with two children and five stepchildren ages 19-28.

BR: Tell me a bit about your personal faith and religious background.

Ann Rodgers: “I’m a Christian of the liturgical variety. I spent my childhood in the Episcopal Church, left it as a teenager and explored a wide variety of other churches before re-embracing the Episcopal Church as a young adult. Last year the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh split. Having seen the devastating effects of a split in my childhood parish, my personal goal in the Pittsburgh situation was to hold my parish together. So, although I wouldn’t personally have chosen to leave the Episcopal Church, I remain a member of a parish that has done so and is now affiliated with the new Anglican Church in North America.

“Because I had close friends who were deeply involved on both sides of the divide, for many years I forced one of my colleagues to cover the Anglican Troubles for me. Alas, he took a buyout last year so I’m stuck covering my own people again.”

BR: How does your faith contribute, if at all, to your professional endeavors? Do you consider what you do a ministry? Why or why not?

Ann Rodgers: “My faith contibutes to my work in the sense that I believe both Christianity and journalism are about pursuit of the truth, even when it hurts. A huge proportion of the Bible is spent delineating the failures of those who are supposed to be God’s people, so there’s no reason why I should ever pull punches in my coverage. I take seriously Jesus’ command to do unto others as I would have them do unto me, so when I am writing about people whose beliefs are different from my own, I seek to be as fair and accurate about what they believe as I would want them to be about my own faith if our roles were reversed.

“I do not consider my work a ministry.  I do not write about what God says or God believes. If that was what I wanted to do I would have joined the clergy or gone to work for the Christian media.  I write about what human beings believe about God.  Secular media outlets should not have any theological viewpoint — including a viewpoint of atheism or agnosticism. Our job is to cover what’s happening in our communities, and the actions that people take based on their faith perspective is an important part of that story.”

BR: What would be the headline and lead paragraph on your life story?

Ann Rodgers: “Working mom raises great kids, by God’s grace. Despite working hours that would kill most people, and sometimes spending weeks away from home when she was a single mom, Ann Rodgers is so proud of her children that she can’t shut up about them. Sam, 19, who mowed the lawn, vacuumed and otherwise ran the house when he was in high school, is a straight-A music therapy major and active in his inner city church. Eli, 23, is in his second year of doctoral studies in biology at West Virginia University, which is paying him rather than the other way around. And although she can’t take any credit for raising her five stepchildren, she thinks thinks they’re awesome too.”

BR: How familiar are you with Churches of Christ? What is your perception of this fellowship of 13,000 non-instrumental congregations in the U.S.? What questions do you have about Churches of Christ?

Ann Rodgers: “I’m fairly familiar with the churches (sic) of Christ. When I was in college I attended a congregation of of the Chrisitian Church, which is a closely related tradition. The Churches of Christ also had a significant presence in the community that I covered in Florida.  My impression has always been that this is a movement of Christians who seek to be faithful to the words of the New Testament.”

BR: You have the microphone. What else would you like to say?

Ann Rodgers: “Reporters strive for accuracy, but make no claim to infallibility.  We do sometimes make mistakes, which we are obliged to correct, but it’s rarely if ever because the reporter wanted to slant the story. Usually it’s because of severe deadline pressure, lack of space to explain details or some combination of both. Also, reporters do not write headlines, and rarely see them before the rest of the readers do.

“But it’s very common for reporters to get calls from angry, rude Christians complaining about some aspect of coverage. If you’ve got a serious concern, consider the witness that your attitude makes before you dash off that e-mail or make the call to that reporter.”

Please leave a comment to thank Ann for her interview and offer any questions or reflections of your own.

— Bobby