The Andrew Murray prize fund has announced the winners of this year's prizes for Christian and theological books.

The publication Living with Dignity - African Perspectives on Gender Equality from Sun Press  will receive the Andrew Murray Desmond Tutu prize this year. The editors are Elna Mouton and Len Hansen from the Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch University, Getrude Kapuma from Malawi and Thomas Togom from Kenya.

This project involved more than twenty scholars from across Africa to discuss important issues of gender equality and human dignity in Africa from different perspectives.

Dr Frits Gaum, chairperson of the Andrew Murray Prize Fund, says: " The judges believe that this publication will make a major contribution to shaping African thinking about these issues and that this approach, thinking and writing together, will pave the way for future theological and academic co-operation in Africa."

Theologians Dion Forster, Nadia Marais and Rian Venter acted as judges. The prize, which will be awarded in May, consists of R20 000 and commendations.

The Andrew Murray prize for the best Christian book in Afrikaans was won by Barend Vos for his book Die ewigheid in my hart (Eternity in my heart), published by Lux Verbi. Barend Vos, alumnus of the Faculty of Theology at Stellenbosch University and author of successful Biblical novels, is known as a satirical columnist in church circles. His winning book offers meditative and contemporary descriptions of the Psalms.

The Desmond Tutu-Gerrit Brand Award for a debut work in an official South African language is named after the Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu, and the deceased young Stellenbosch theologian and book editor, Gerrit Brand. This year the winning book is Jong teoloë praat saam (young theologians in conversation) published by Bible Media, initiated and edited by Annette Potgieter and containing contributions from fifteen students of theological faculties of several universities in South Africa about contemporary religious and life questions that are important to them.

The Andrew Murray-FAK Award will be awarded for the first time this year, and goes to Chris Lambrechts for an extraordinary contribution to Christian music.

A special Andrew Murray Award will be given to church historian and Africana collector Gerdrie van der Merwe. He can rightly be called a chronicler of DRC congregations for meticulously recording the history of churches and pastors of more than fifty books . He also owns a collection of church history, theology books and other Africana, unique in its kind, and probably the largest collection in private hands.