Who We Are
Founded in 1929
The Religion Communicators Council (RCC), founded in 1929, is an association of communications professionals who work for and with a diverse group of faith-based organizations in the areas of communications, public relations, advertising and development.
The RCC provides opportunities for communicators to learn from each other. Together, RCC members promote excellence in the communication of faith and values in the public arena and encourage understanding among religious and faith groups.
Members
Members represent a variety of communications disciplines,
Groups that would benefit from membership
RCC includes local chapters in various cities and regions around the country. Local chapters meet regularly for programming and networking. Those not located near a local chapter are considered members-at-large.
Nationally, RCC offers a yearly convention, complete with exciting keynote speakers and challenging workshops. Highlights of the annual convention are the awards ceremonies where work within faith-based organizations and in secular media is honored.
RCC works with members by posting job openings, providing webinars for professional growth and emails “Updates” with Member News and links to religious literacy resources.
What Members Say
The Religion Communications Council has helped me grow professionally and meet people that practice the world’s belief systems. My membership with RCC is an investment as an interreligious communicator which has provided me with the resources I need to do the work I’m called to do. I am very grateful to be a part of a wonderful organization.
RCC is a great place for professional development, networking, and interfaith collaboration. At both our local chapter meetings and at the annual conference, there are opportunities to interact with journalists and with experts in different aspects of communication. Plus, the interfaith dimension of RCC means that you can learn from and develop friendships with colleagues from different faiths. A deeply rewarding experience, both professionally and personally.
I joined the RCC because I was looking for a professional association of communicators who understood the challenges of working for a small faith-based nonprofit. What I found is an organization of dedicated, mission-driven communicators committed to a better world through service and understanding. The RCC annual convention provides valuable professional development opportunities and meaningful time to learn about other faith traditions, thus nurturing and expanding my own spirituality. That’s quite a return on investment!
The Religion Communicators Council has given me the opportunity to interact with so many different faith groups and learn about many different traditions and beliefs. My membership has allowed me to grow personally and professionally, while helping me stay connected with other interfaith professionals. I highly value my membership with RCC and I encourage other professional communicators to join RCC as well!
RCC continues to be my primary professional association as a religion communicator. RCC has provided continuing education and networking for me during the past two decades. It has also provided meaningful personal relations with communication professional across North America.
For many years my professional development and networking was focused narrowly on public relations and non-profit communications. Becoming a member of RCC has “fine tuned” things for me at the same time that it has opened things up. RCC provides me with the best of both worlds – focused professional development and a rich community of people with the same focus. The fact that RCC is an interfaith and ecumenical organization has been of great value to me, as it has enabled me to grow in my awareness not only of other religions and denominations but of my own biases and assumptions that I never would have had the chance to discern. Being part of RCC has helped me to grow in religious literacy and given me a broader community and perspective. I am a much more effective communicator and have an enriched personal life and professional life thanks to RCC.
I originally joined the RCC because, as a minority religion, I felt it was important for us to be represented in this national interfaith organization. Once I met the other RCC members and began to talk with them at local and national meetings, I came to realize the value of being able to have informal conversations about common challenges that we face when trying to communicate our faith stories to the public through the media.
I fondly remember walking through an airport with 3 RCC colleagues on our way home from a national convention. The four of us represented the Jewish, Christian, Islamic, and Baha’i faiths. I smiled brightly and thought, ‘THIS is why I love the RCC. It is a place where I have the opportunity to grow in my field AND in my love for all of humanity.’ And this is why I continue to be a member of the RCC; for my professional *and* my spiritual growth.
I belong to RCC for three reasons: I am able to build relationships with others in different faith groups; I grow in interfaith understanding from the open perspective of what others share; I grow in my work through educational opportunities at the national convention.
Fellowship, network, develop – words that can be used as verbs (meaning action) – and describe just some of the benefits I find in my RCC membership. I can call on a pool of professionals for support and advice who do some or all of the same tasks and responsibilities I do in my job. I know of no other organization where I can get so much benefit for little more than $100 a year.
Who Are RCC Members?
Religion Communicators Council members are diverse. We work for a variety of organizations, from different faith traditions, with different job responsibilities and professions. What links all of us are “communication” and “faith-based.” What distinguishes RCC from other professional associations for those who work in communications or a related field and whose business or customer base is primarily faith-based is that RCC is inter-faith.
We are nearly 500 religion communicators who work in print, electronic communications, advertising
In other words, we are professional communicators working in many different jobs, for different types of organizations, for different faith groups who find RCC to be a place where we can develop professionally, network, fellowship and enrich our personal and professional lives through the organization.
We have a place for you.