Despite the competition created by a week of sunny weather, Anchorage area residents came out in large numbers for a series of RTB outreach meetings sponsored by Birchwood Baptist Church, in the Anchorage suburb of Birchwood, Alaska. One of the many encouraging results was the launching of an ongoing Open Forum for skeptics in Anchorage. A university professor, an airline pilot, and Birchwood pastor, Bob Chadwick, comprise the leadership team, and we anticipate a fantastic response.
New territories for RTB this past quarter include William Penn University, where Ohio State faculty member (and RTB volunteer) Gerald Cleaver gave a series of science and faith talks to both students and professors. He also squeezed in a lecture on his specialty, string cosmology, for a physics class there. Xenos Christian Fellowship in Columbus, Ohio, organized a week-long apologetics conference, called The Crossroads Project, with Hugh as one of the keynote speakers, along with Dr. William Lane Craig. Hugh also enjoyed filling in for pastor Chuck Smith, Jr., at the Saturday and Sunday worship services of Capistrano Beach Calvary Chapel in southern California. The attendance was high, and so was the enthusiasm of members and guests who stayed to ask questions and interact with our book table helpers. This church has its own beautiful bookstore, and the manager reports high demand for tapes of Hugh’s four different messages.
RTB volunteer apologist Marj Harman gave a Saturday "Round table" workshop for our southern California hotline team, and Dr. Alex Metherell spoke on "God and the Universe" to the Faith and Life Conference sponsored by the Presbyterian Lay Committee. Hugh taught a graduate-level minicourse at Simon Greenleaf University, in Orange, Calif. Several of his students have signed up for our apologetics training practicum and are preparing to join RTB’s volunteer team.
This team makes possible our being in two places (or more) at once. With their help, and a lot of extra effort from Sheila Cherney, Janet Kobobel Grant, Joyce Magee, Bob Stuart, and the rest of our staff, RTB presented exhibit booths at both the Christian Home Educators Association (CHEA) and Christian Booksellers Association (CBA) annual conventions on overlapping July dates in Anaheim, Calif.
The first few copies of Beyond the Cosmos arrived in Anaheim just in time for NavPress’s—and our own—CBA displays. RTB’s first three boxes were sent to our overseas distributors, and advance orders have just been filled.
Response to our recently taped, newly formatted Reasons to Believe television program on Trinity Broadcasting Network has been wholly positive (see "Letters"). Dr. Mark Clark, a political science professor specializing in international relations and national security, serves as Hugh’s co-host for this latest series, adding a new dimension of discussion and humor.
Alex Metherell and Hugh teamed up for a talk radio interview (via phone) with WPMH in Chesapeake, Va. Additional radio opportunities included "The Dick Staub Show," broadcast nationally from Chicago and "The Kerby Anderson Show" on KDFX in Irving, Tex.
Meanwhile attendance and enthusiasm both run high in the "Paradoxes" Sunday morning class at Sierra Madre Congregational Church and at the Open Forum bimonthly luncheons at the University Club, Pasadena, Calif. Check the Calendar; on page 16 for dates of upcoming luncheons and other events.
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