Posted on Jun 5, 2002 | by Staff

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--The congregations of two Southern Baptist churches will host the TruthQuest: California team at rallies featuring a live worship band, special musical artists, drama and youth evangelist Steve Keels.

The evangelistic rallies will be held July 7 at the First Baptist Church, Cleveland, Tenn., and July 10 at the First Baptist Church, Franklin, Tenn.

TruthQuest: California is a joint project of Baptist Press, FamilyNet Television and Broadman & Holman Publishing. For 16 days the Truthquesters will write stories and share on camera about cutting-edge ministries in California. Their stories will appear daily on Baptist Press and their adventures will be chronicled in 13 half-hour episodes to air in October on FamilyNet.

TruthQuest derived its name from the TruthQuest Inductive Study Bible facilitated by Keels and published by B&H.

Since 1978, Keels has been the student minister of Good Shepherd Community Church in Boring, Ore., overseeing a youth program development encompassing 700 junior and high school students.

"Time has taught me that teenagers are extremely bright and don't like to be patronized," Keels said. "They learn more by discovery than by being told. TruthQuest is designed to lead teenagers into the discovery of biblical truths. By finding their own answers to study questions and writing personal thoughts in the margins, teenagers will take ownership in the Bible and in Christianity. It will be the truth they have discovered themselves."

The rallies also will include Never Abandoned, a student-led praise and worship band based in Cleveland, Tenn. The band includes Andy Botts, Trey Elliott, Joel Scoggins and Kyle Howard. All four teenagers are members of First Baptist Church, Cleveland.

Botts is a member of the TruthQuest: California team. The band also will debut a song Botts wrote to commemorate the TruthQuest: California journey, called "One Desire."

"We are looking forward to hosting the TruthQuest team at our church," said Phil Griffin, senior pastor of the southeast Tennessee church. "The community is getting excited about the television show and the fact that some of our church members are a part of the team."

For information on TruthQuest: California, including the rallies, visit http://truthquest.sbc.net.
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(BP) photo posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo title: NEVER ABANDONED.