Evangelicals have been called the people of the Book. They are also the people of the annual convention, the weeklong crusade, and the two-day workshop. Not surprisingly, then, we at CT find an ongoing challenge in not only knowing which of these events to cover, but how best to cover them.
This month’s cover story showcases a writing style we hope to use increasingly as we report on the peripatetic activities of the modern church. Calling on the writer not only to report “the facts” of an event, but to describe graphically the sights, sounds, and smells in a first-person analysis, this style allows the reader to experience and understand an event without leaving his or her sofa.
In the months ahead, such reports will feature a recent meeting in Chicago (attended by about 5,000 theologians and biblical scholars), and a meeting in a small Michigan town (attended by almost the entire population of 400) to raise funds for international Bible distribution.
In this issue, however, the reader visits Buffalo, New York—an unlikely venue for a battle of world views. But for one week last August, that is exactly what took place. Billy Graham brought crusade evangelism to Pilot Field, while out at the Amherst Campus of the State University of New York (SUNY)/College at Buffalo the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) held its tenth world congress.
Needless to say, it made for an interesting week—a “battle” executive editor Terry Muck was eager to join.
HAROLD B. SMITH, Managing Editor
