For actress Candace Cameron Bure, success is sweeter when it comes after she was attacked for standing firm in her Christian beliefs.
On Friday, Bure won two top prizes at the 30th annual Movieguide Awards in Los Angeles, which celebrate excellence in Christian entertainment.
The “Full House” alum received the Grace Award for TV performance in “A Christmas…Present,” which her film production company produced in collaboration with the Great American Family network.
Bure’s Christmas movie also won the award for “Best Family Television.”
The former child star gushed on Instagram, “My heart is full of gratitude and love.”
In her post, Bure thanked Great American Family and the fledgling network’s CEO, Bill Abbott, for providing a platform that enables Christians to unabashedly “share scripture and the name of Jesus on cable television.”
“I’m pretty darn excited for my company @CandyRock.Entertainment!” she wrote on Saturday. “Our first movie out of the gate, A Christmas…Present and we won Best Family Television from @MovieGuide Awards.”
She continued: “Massive thank you to @BillAbbottHC and @gactv for being unashamed to share scripture and the name of Jesus on cable television and for your dedication to faith and family entertainment.
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“And guys- I won the Grace Award for TV performance in A Christmas… Present. This award honors the most inspirational performance that best displays God’s grace toward us as human beings.”
Bure’s success is vindication not only for herself but for Great American Family, which closed out the fourth quarter as the fastest-growing network in all of cable television just two years after launching.
Great news for Great American Media’s #GreatAmericanFamily to end 2022 & an even better way to start 2023. Happy New Year to everyone who helped make this happen, from people on-camera & off, but especially our viewers! ?#GreatAmericanChristmas #WelcomeHome #GreatAmericanWinter pic.twitter.com/HwCtF021II
— Great American Family (@GAfamilyTV) January 3, 2023
Abbott was ousted in 2020 as CEO of Crown Media — the parent company of the Hallmark Channel — amid left-wing outrage over his move to pull four commercials that promoted same-sex marriages.
He quickly launched a competitor network and hired many of Hallmark’s biggest stars, including Bure, actress Danica McKellar and popular leading man Trevor Donovan.
.@danicamckellar is set to star in #GreatAmericanFamily’s, #RoyalChristmasBall. McKellar is a co-writer of the story & serves as one of the film’s executive producers.-via @DEADLINE @Lynetterice @hollandnotes #GreatAmericanChristmas 2023 #WelcomeHome ??https://t.co/6DXoVHRR8G
— Great American Family (@GAfamilyTV) February 15, 2023
The news our viewers have been waiting for! ? @TrevDon will appear in TWO #GreatAmericanFamily movies this year! -via #LynetteRice @DEADLINE #AutumnHarvest #GreatAmericanChristmas #WelcomeHome #DWTS #DonoFANS #TeamUpstanders @TeamUpstanders https://t.co/dosKUZBjF4
— Great American Family (@GAfamilyTV) February 9, 2023
In November, Bure dumped Hallmark to join Great American Family, citing the network’s vision of featuring wholesome family entertainment, including keeping “traditional marriage at the core.”
“I knew that the people behind Great American Family were Christians that love the Lord and wanted to promote faith programming and good family entertainment,” she told The Wall Street Journal.
“I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core.”
Candace Cameron Bure Explains Why She Left Hallmark for GAC Family: They’re ‘Good Christians That Love the Lord’ https://t.co/UqB8JZqo46
— TVLine.com (@TVLine) November 14, 2022
Bure’s comments about “traditional marriage” ignited social media outrage among leftists, who called her a “bigot” for standing by her Christian beliefs.
Last week, the mom of three said she won’t back down in the face of mob bullying.
“I know that there’s all the places in the world, all different countries, where people get severely persecuted for their faith,” Bure said on the “Unapologetic with Julia Jeffress Sadler” podcast. “And I feel like we’ve had this cushion here in North America where, you know, someone yells at us or someone just says a mean, negative thing and our feelings get so hurt over it. And that isn’t nearly the persecution that a lot of other people go through for being a Christian in other countries.
“Nevertheless, cancel culture is real, and it’s difficult, and it’s hard.”
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She said Christians must stick to their beliefs while responding with kindness.
“It’s hard, no matter what, you know, especially when you are a compassionate person and you have a heart for people,” Bure said. “But it’s important that we speak but truth in love, ’cause, listen, nobody’s gonna change, nobody’s gonna listen to you when it comes out angry, when it comes out in a harsh way.
“But it’s important that we don’t back down.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
