Today (December 27), marks the 16^th anniversary of this apologetics ministry of Answers in Genesis. To find out how God has mightily blessed the ministry, including the popular 2 ½ year old Creation Museum, read our ministry history reprinted below in an abridged version (and view some historical photos) or read the full record at: www.answersingenesis.org/about/history

In a future web article, we will give you a glimpse of what is being planned for 2010—including new initiatives to proclaim the creation/gospel message, wrapped around an exciting and bold theme for the year. Stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying—and give praise to the Lord for the 16 years of AiG ministry.

The History of AiG through December 2009

Preface

by Ken Ham, AiG–U.S. founder and president

In so many ways, my wife Mally and I can give testimony after wonderful testimony as to how the Lord called us into the creation ministry in Australia—and how He has blessed us all along the way (including the many years we have now spent in America). God’s providence was especially seen during the pioneering days of the late 1970s in Australia, when He provided for our needs time and time again (e.g., friends and family helping us with groceries and other things during the lean first months).

It’s been a wonderful 30 years of full-time creation ministry. I hope this brief history will encourage you as you read how God has mightily blessed the proclamation of the creation/Gospel message.

1970s

Ken Ham left a position as a public school science teacher in Queensland, Australia in 1979 after being engaged in part-time creation speaking for three years (primarily on weekends).¹ At a special service at his church, Sunnybank Baptist in Brisbane, the pastor and deacons laid hands on Ken and Mally to set them apart to the work of what Ken was to eventually call the “Creation Science Foundation” (cofounded by John Mackay).

Before the ministry was to change its name to CSF, it was run in two parts: a book ministry called “Creation Science Supplies” and a teaching ministry entitled “Creation Science Educational Media Services.” These two outreaches were based in the home of Ken and Mally (who personally borrowed money to build extensions on their home). When he resigned from his teaching position in 1979, Ken used a small retirement payment to buy the ministry’s first photocopier and electric typewriter. To this day, Ken praises the Lord for Mally and the great sacrifices she made back then (and over the subsequent 27 years); indeed, for the first few years of the ministry in Australia, they had no salary and relied on personal gifts from family members and friends.

Even with such a humble beginning, the ministry had a dream—but it was one that took over 25 years to accomplish. Ken, along with a businessman friend (who would later become a board member), prayed about building a Creation Museum. Little did they know then that their dream was to be transported across the Pacific Ocean and eventually realized in America in 2007.

1980s

The first AiG office (1979) was quite homey. In fact, it was Ken Ham’s Australian home! Two rooms were soon added on as the ministry grew.

After establishing the Australian ministry and conducting a few teaching tours in the U.S. sponsored by Master Books of California (now based in Arkansas), Ken and Mally (and their five children) temporarily moved to Arizona for six months in 1986 to work with Films For Christ. This partnership resulted in about 100 speaking and radio/TV engagements, as well as the production of the well-known Genesis Solution film (which was nominated as “Best Documentary” by the Christian Film Distributors Association).

In 1986, the Australian board of CSF believed that Mally and Ken had a calling from the Lord to move to the United States. Ken was loaned as a speaker to Dr. Henry Morris’s Institute for Creation Research (ICR) in California to help popularize ICR’s creation message around America. Just before the Hams were to move across the Pacific, they were again set apart for a missionary venture (this time to be overseas) at a special service at their home church. Ever since, Ken has called himself a “missionary from Australia to America.” The Hams moved to the U.S. on January 22, 1987. He remained a director, however, of the CSF ministry in Australia (until 2004).

This acclaimed film was shown in thousands of churches throughout America and overseas, and helped promote ICR tremendously.

On February 18, 1987, Ken received a phone call informing him of a major leadership problem back home at CSF. It meant either returning home or finding someone else to hold things together and help lead the ministry. CSF scientist Dr. Andrew Snelling (who started and produced the ministry’s Technical Journal in 1984) was appointed as the temporary manager of the ministry, and capably oversaw CSF for a few months; then Dr. Carl Wieland (editor/founder of Creation magazine, which he had handed over to CSF in 1979 after the first two issues) was convinced to join CSF in September 1987 to take over from Dr. Snelling and lead the organization on a permanent basis.

While working at ICR in California, Ken was persuaded by CSF’s founding chairman, Professor John Rendle-Short, to travel with him to the United Kingdom. Professor Rendle-Short had a burden for the church in his homeland, and he believed a creation ministry could help equip the church in the UK to defend the Christian faith.

After a speaking tour of the UK and seeing the great need for the creation/gospel message, Ken was soon burdened for this nation as well. Professor Rendle-Short met a man in England, Mr. Graham Scott, who was very willing to get involved, and a relationship began to build an affiliated creation ministry in the UK. Ken and the other CSF–Australia leaders agreed to produce newsletters, keep a database of names/addresses, and oversee Creation magazine subscriptions for the UK ministry. ICR graciously allowed Ken to go on speaking tours in the UK as part of establishing a CSF mission in the UK.

1990s

. . . In 1993, after being “on loan” to ICR for seven years and seeing a fruitful ministry in conducting ICR family teaching conferences across America, Ken was broached by Mally with the idea of starting a new creation organization—one that would be more layperson-oriented than ICR (which was, by its name, a much-needed research group and also had a graduate school of science, for example).

At about this time, Ken and Mally were visited by Wyoming pastor Don Landis and his wife, Beverly. Pastor Landis suggested that it was time for the “loan” to ICR to conclude and to begin a new U.S. ministry. Ken discussed this possibility with various family members in Australia (particularly with his now-late brother Robert) and staff at the CSF headquarters (Dr. Wieland, general manager, Paul Salmon, and others).

In late 1993, Ken made the decision to resign from ICR. Two ICR colleagues, Mark Looy and Mike Zovath, also decided to join Ken, and the three founded a new organization that was initially called “Creation Science Ministries.” One of the first donors was Dr. Morris, who also wrote a gracious letter of introduction for the new ministry. Carl Kerby (an air-traffic controller at the time) and Dan Manthei (a businessman), as well as Ken, Mark, and Mike, became the first board members.

. . . Meanwhile, a Michigan family helped “kick-start” CSM with a significant five-figure donation, and CSF–Australia offered to be a “safety net” to loan CSM funds if it was needed (but that was never necessary and thus no CSF money was borrowed). The U.S. ministry was started as autonomous (but with a “sisterly” relationship with the Australian organization) and stood on its own two feet financially from the very beginning. Through a number of well-attended seminars in cities like Denver and Phoenix, and the growing faithful support from donors, the U.S. ministry was launched in good financial shape in early 1994 (and, praise God, has maintained a sound financial footing).

Other godly men (including Pastor Landis) were approached about being on the U.S. board and thus be the authority to which all staff (including CEO Ken Ham) would be accountable. Ken Ham, cofounder of the Australian ministry, remained on the Australian CSF board.

. . . In its first year of ministry (1994), CSM–U.S. sought nonprofit status through the IRS. This accountability meant that donors could give their donations to AiG with confidence (and also receive a receipt for tax purposes). In addition, the ministry (now known as Answers in Genesis–U.S.) continues to be a member in good standing with the financial watchdog group “The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability” (ECFA), which reviews AiG financial records each year. (Also, in 2005–2007, AiG–U.S.—out of thousands of ministries—was named one of the “30 shining lights” by MinistryWatch.com, another respected financial watchdog of nonprofit ministries.)

In March 1994, Ken’s family moved from southern California to northern Kentucky to start up the new headquarters, and Mark’s and Mike’s families followed. They established operation in rented offices in Florence, Kentucky (about 14 miles south of downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, not far from I-75). The Cincinnati-area location was chosen because almost 2/3 of America’s population lives within 650 miles, and since a future Creation Museum was planned, this strategic location was very important in determining where to be situated.

The second newsletter from the new ministry highlighted some exciting news.

AiG’s first major conference was held in March 1994 in Denver, Colorado, where 2,200 adults and over 4,000 students attended. The first ministry newsletter was mailed out in March as well. The Answers … with Ken Ham radio program began airing on 45 stations in October of 1994. Indeed, AiG’s first year was marvelously blessed by God. In fact, by early December 1994, over 85,500 people had been reached at teaching events, and 142 radio stations were carrying the new radio feature.

That same year, a meeting was held with the new board in Wyoming. It was at that meeting that the board decided to change the organization’s name to “Answers in Genesis,” to reflect the fact that the ministry was not just about “creation,” but the authority of all of Scripture—as well as about evangelism and equipping believers to build a biblical worldview. Some time later, CSF–Australia followed the U.S. lead and changed its name to Answers in Genesis.

Ken Ham (along with colleague Mike Zovath) continued their travels to the UK each year to conduct teaching meetings, working closely with Mr. Scott there. Eventually, as Mr. Scott was considering retiring, Dr. Monty White of the University of Cardiff (Wales) was asked by Ken and Mike to lead the UK ministry. The U.S. board agreed to act as a safety net for this new phase of growth in case the UK ministry needed help.

The fledgling new AiG ministry had its first office in a tiny office in a strip mall in Florence, Kentucky, just south of Cincinnati.

In the early years of the U.S. ministry, Carl Kerby (in 1995) designed and launched the AiG website as a founding member and content contributor to www.ChristianAnswers.net. Soon, the sister groups in the UK and Australia wanted to have home pages on the U.S.-managed website, so the U.S. site became the website for all sister ministries. AiG–U.S. hired the necessary staff to oversee all aspects of the website, including maintaining the home pages of the other AiGs (at no cost, even though the expense was growing substantially each year). AiG–Australia in particular provided web articles from Creation magazine, as well as “feedback” articles written by its staff and articles on “hot” topics (these constituted almost half the site’s content by 2006). In turn, AiG–Australia used articles from the newsletters and other writings of the U.S. ministry, as well as thousands of resource descriptions and video/audio streams created by the U.S. ministry.

In the mid-1990s, AiG was searching for land in northern Kentucky upon which to build a Creation Museum and new headquarters for its rapidly growing speaking ministry, radio program, and web outreach. The ministry was constantly in the local news due to strident opposition from evolutionists/secular humanists and others opposed to the two land rezoning efforts. The controversy soon made national and even international headlines (e.g., The Times of London). Opposition to the museum project had one local newspaper reader (who did not know AiG very well) so concerned about the way AiG was being attacked that his family gave a $1 million museum gift.

The decade of 2000

Rod Martin, then–AiG director of internet outreach (center left) and Dale Mason, AiG vice president of marketing (center right) receive the “Ministry Website of the Year” award from NRB’s Dr. Ron Harris (chairman) and Dr. Frank Wright (president) at a special ceremony in Dallas, Texas (February 2006).

During this decade, AiG–U.S. saw hundreds of new radio stations carrying the Answers radio program, a huge boost in visits to the AiG website (now averaging around 25,000 visits a day), and several hundred requests each year to conduct teaching meetings. In 2006, the www.AnswersInGenesis.org website received the prestigious “Website of the year” award from the National Religious Broadcasters, a group of 1,300 ministries (including most of the large Christian groups in America). In the previous year, Answers was nominated as NRB’s best radio teaching program.

By 2004, AiG had grown to nearly 100 staff working out of four rented offices in northern Kentucky. In September, the entire staff was thankful to move into one building (next to the Creation Museum under construction), on 50 beautiful acres along I-275, just west of the Cincinnati Airport (in a building that AiG now owned).

As staff moved into their new headquarters facility, the multi-columned Creation Museum was being built next door in preparation for a spring 2007 opening.

…The year 2006 (continued)

In early 2006, a donation of $50,000 from a California family broke the $20,000,000 mark in donations for the $27 million, 60,000 sq. ft. Creation Museum as AiG looked forward to a 2007 opening.²

^{AiG’s highly credentialed apologetics speakers}

The teaching ministry continued its dramatic growth. In 2006, over 300 events in various cities were held (a single visit to one city might see up to six different speaking opportunities at an “event”—in front of six different audiences). AiG’s exceptional speakers included many with earned doctorates in a variety of fields, including one with a PhD in biology from an Ivy League school (read their bios and qualifications, and perhaps consider booking one or more of them for your church or group at http://www.answersingenesis.org/outreach/speakers/). Also, several dozen Video Conference Volunteers were trained in the last half of the decade who began hosting AiG video seminars in small and large towns across America.

The award-winning AiG website was shown on some rankings to be visited by nearly as many people as Focus on the Family and other leading ministries. In other media, the Answers radio program was being carried by about 800 U.S. stations and hundreds more overseas, and AiG spokespersons were regularly appearing in the secular and Christian media (e.g., CBS News, NBC Nightly News, The PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer, Nightline, CNN, BBC, Times of London, etc.), a trend that escalated as the museum opening drew nearer.

The inaugural issue of a new apologetics magazine.

Another major development in the ministry was occurring in 2006. The U.S. organization had expressed a concern about the renewal rate for subscribers to Creation magazine (more than 50% did not renew after one year). AiG–U.S. therefore conducted a statistically valid, scientific survey of its subscribers. The results indicated that a new magazine was needed, one which would emphasize the biblical worldview, would have widespread practical application, and would feature biblical and scientific articles on the origins issue.

…

Several large rooms (some 48-feet high), animatronic dinosaurs, a planetarium, and more than 50 video displays present Creation Museum visitors with a “walk through biblical history”—with a heavy evangelistic emphasis.

With the launch of a new magazine and the opening of the Creation Museum before the summer of 2007, AiG–U.S. was looking forward to additional new opportunities, while remaining committed to the same strong authoritative biblical teaching and scientific credibility the ministry has always maintained.

Meanwhile, the eight-person leadership team of AiG–U.S. (including the CEO/president) received the full, unqualified support of the U.S. board of directors, and has been complimented by the board for the vision, leadership, and performance of the fast-growing ministry.

On a 2006 speaking tour of England, Ken Ham (and his wife Mally) visited Charles Darwin’s home. It was at this location that Darwin composed On the Origin of Species (1859), and where celebrations are expected in 2009 and also around the world (Darwin’s 200th birthday). The book’s anti-biblical message radiated out to the world from here, leaving destructive consequences in its wake.

2007

Undoubtedly the highlight of the ministry’s relatively young life was the opening of the Creation Museum on May 28, 2007, attracting over 4,000 people (and about 60 protestors). On May 26 a private ribbon-cutting ceremony had been held; over 100 credentialed media attended either that day or at the public opening two days later. During this time, Ken Ham was interviewed on FOX–TV’s The O’Reilly Factor and FOX and Friends in the morning, CNN’s Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, ABC–TV’s Good Morning America (which did a live broadcast remote at the museum), and several dozen other outlets. In addition to the many British and Australian correspondents who came to the museum in its opening weeks, multiple media representatives from countries like Switzerland and Japan toured the museum and filed stories. Major stories eventually appeared in all of America’s leading newspapers, each of them highlighting the high-tech nature of the center (from its state-of-the-art planetarium, to its SFX Theater and animatronics).

Another highlight of 2007 was the amount of traffic to AiG’s website. On one day alone in 2007, 94,000 visitors/343,000 page views were recorded in a 24-hour period—a phenomenal figure for a ministry.

A May 26, 2007 ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by AiG staff and supporters, plus the world’s media.

Watch a 2-minute video highlighting the ribbon-cutting ceremony here.

With many Saturdays in 2007 seeing guests numbering 3,000–4,000, the museum had its 250,000 visitor come through in early November (almost seven months ahead of projections). In May 2008, a petting zoo opened across the lake from the museum, plus new restrooms and two cafes were added to accommodate some large crowds (usually on Saturdays), and 660 parking spots were being planned. Extended opening hours for Friday and Saturday were also instituted.

2008–2009

The one-year anniversary of the Creation Museum was celebrated with a dazzling fireworks show on May 23, 2008. Just two days before, the museum attracted its 400,000th visitor.

AiG and its president, Ken Ham (center), were presented with the 2008 “Integrity Award” by the National Association of Christian Financial Consultants (a group of 300 investment professionals committed to financial planning centered upon biblical principles). It was yet another testament to the strong oversight of AiG’s board in ensuring that the ministry is committed to integrity in all areas, including finances. Left: Mike McCormick, president of the NACFC; right: Wes Pennington, NACFC’s executive director.

By the end of 2008, God had blessed AiG–U.S. with about 260 staff (growing to over 325 in the summertime because of large museum crowds)—and several animals (on display in a new petting zoo, which was to become a great family attraction on the museum grounds). The Answers radio program was now heard on about 900 stations worldwide, and the AiG website continued to be one of the most-visited religious websites in the world. Answers magazine had exploded in growth to almost 70,000 subscribers.

Wonder why so many young adults have left the church of their youth? This book reveals the startling reasons—yet offers the much-needed remedies.

At the end of the museum’s second year of operation (May 27, 2009), 719,206 guests had toured. That same week, a groundbreaking new book co-authored by Ken Ham, Already Gone—which startlingly documented that the exodus of 80% of young adults from the church had already occurred in their minds well before college, and largely because of their doubts about the Bible—was released. Already Gone revealed why so many young people are leaving the church (e.g., among many things: most Sunday school programs are not helping children and teens, and they see that the Christian faith is not relevant or defensible, and that even Sunday school can be detrimental in trusting the Bible). The book also presented solutions to help stem this huge church exodus. The release of Already Gone led to several dozen media interviews through the summer, and also an invitation for Ken Ham to speak at the morning worship services at the well-known church First Baptist Atlanta (Charles Stanley, pastor). By the end of 2009, over 925,000 people had toured the Creation Museum since it opened over 2 ½ years ago.

In 2009, Ken spoke at the First Baptist Church of Atlanta at Pastor Charles Stanley’s invitation (October 2009).

The national media also covered Answers in Genesis in the summer of 2009 regarding a raucous visit by 285 atheists/agnostics to the museum, led by a vehement anti-creationist and atheist professor from Minnesota. Some poor reporting (e.g., the ABC News website) claimed that our museum teaches that “the beaks of Darwin’s finches are explained by God’s will, not evolution; and mankind spread from continent to continent by walking across the floating trunks of trees knocked down during the Biblical Flood.” This writer toured the museum and we wondered how he ever came up with those bizarre claims.

One area of increasing ministry opportunity has been in international outreach. In the summer of 2008, a video crew taped AiG talks in India (above), to be translated into Hindi and Telugu. In 2009, talks were taped in Japan and these translated lectures were in post-production through the rest of the year. Towards the end of 2009, translators representing 77 languages had engaged in producing AiG materials.

The atheist professor wrote an item that was even worse in its reporting. In a blog column with a headline wrongly blaring that a young student in his group was “Expelled from the Creation Museum,” the professor was not exhibiting careful research; see our report on that very unusual day at blogs.answersingenesis.org/aroundtheworld/2009/08/08/the-day-285-atheistsagnostics-visited-the-creation-museum/.

AiG has now become the world’s largest apologetics organization. Also, as was mentioned earlier, the AiG “sister” ministry based in Leicester, England, continues to have an impact in Europe—it is often profiled in the major media (e.g., BBC–TV/Radio) and conducts teaching meetings throughout western and eastern Europe.

As AiG-U.S.’s board members look to the future, they are considering many new or expanded Bible-proclaiming outreaches, including in the much-needed areas of curriculum development and international translation programs. For 2010, an outreach at the Winter Olympic Games in Canada promises to draw several dozen AiG volunteer evangelists to Vancouver, and the preparation of a new apologetics Sunday school curriculum for ages 5 and up will begin (for a 2011 release).

The Creation Museum’s first outdoor Live Nativity and “Road to Bethlehem” events attracted about 11,000 people in 11 days in December 2008. Inside the museum, 24,000 guests enjoyed 23 days of special Christmas activities including a unique planetarium program (on the Star of Bethlehem), wonderful decorations, music, etc.

The U.S. board, recognizing that AiG was largely dependent on the name recognition of its president in the first years of the ministry to help AiG get kick-started, is pleased today to see that the museum, popular website, expanding curriculum department, several new speakers, etc., are making AiG less dependent on Ken Ham to grow the ministry (thus leaving Ken with more time to work closely with the board in strategizing how AiG’s vision can be taken into new areas, as God gives the opportunities).

As AiG looks back at sixteen years of wonderful, fruitful ministry, including 2009 with special seminar outreaches and new resources to counter Darwin’s 200th birthday celebrations we can say: “To God be the glory, great things He has done!”

Notes

1. To read more about what motivated Ken Ham to get involved in creation ministry in the mid-70s, read The end of an era, but ….
2. The museum was listed as a $25 million project in 2006, but because of anticipated crowd challenges, the museum staff decided to expand the lobby by 7,000 square feet, double the size of the café, and add 84 more parking spots, making the construction cost over $27 million for the first construction phase (i.e., when the museum opened in May 2007; since that time, several new exhibits and enhancements have been added). Other non-construction costs (e.g. hiring museum staff, advertising, media relations, etc) were also incurred.

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