Twenty Years of Words & Wonder

But with the Creation Museum pulling on all the ministry’s resources, would there be enough left over for a new creative endeavor?

One day in a conversation with Ken Ham, the founder of AiG, Dale mentioned his big idea. Turns out, Ken had already been thinking of starting a magazine. Eagerly, they envisioned how to make their dream a reality. Dale recalls, “We were a little bit like two kids in a candy store trying to figure out ‘How do we do this?’”

How could they fund and source this new bold endeavor? Dale would have to figure it out—and fast. They wanted to launch the magazine in six months, a deadline unheard of in the publishing industry! “Looking back, we were idiots,” Dale admits. “It was crazy!

If anyone could help, it would be Dan Zordel, the director of product development. Dale remembers, “As the idea was halfway out of my mouth, Dan was on board with it, thinking it through.”

Assembling the Answers Team

Dan welcomed the challenge of gathering a team of graphic designers, illustrators, and web designers to support Dale. He figured out how to allocate some of the existing staff members' time to the magazine venture while they continued to work in other departments.

Dan Zordel and Dan Stelzer review the first prints of Kids Answers.

Dan Stelzer would become the magazine's lead designer. On the content side, Dale tapped AiG staff writer Pam Sheppard as the national editor to help him and several other editors pull together the content for aggressive deadlines.

With the team assembled, the work started. They had to seek out like-minded advertisers, send invitations to potential authors, check the copyright information with legal counsel, make key editorial and design decisions, and build a subscription base. The magazine also needed children's content to be included as an eight-page insert.

And the magazine needed a name. After hours of meetings, the leadership decided on Answers, an obvious choice in keeping with the ministry’s name. They also decided on the tagline “Building a biblical worldview”—a tenet that would set the vision for the magazine’s content throughout its existence.

Creating the Content

Becky Stelzer, one of the magazine’s first editors, embraced the excitement. “It was thrilling to be part of something with such potential impact.” But without previous experience in magazine publishing, she, along with the rest of the team, had many questions. “One of my biggest challenges was knowing the science behind the articles. If I were to edit things without changing the information, I needed to know the science.” For the first issue, that meant knowing a bit about paleontology, radiometric dating, and genetics.

Since no one on the magazine team held degrees in science, Dale implemented multiple levels of science and theology reviews, including from creation scientists Dr. Jason Lisle, Dr. Georgia Purdom, and Dr. John Whitmore.

In early 2006, geologist Dr. Andrew Snelling was working for the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) in Australia but had flown into the US to help plan Creation Museum content and record videos to be shown in the exhibits. While Dr. Snelling was visiting AiG, his long-time friend Ken Ham discussed the idea of a worldview magazine. To support the launch, Dr. Snelling wrote an article on the fallacies of radiometric dating of rocks based on his research in the Grand Canyon.

From the start, he was a scientific advisor and reviewer, but months later, after joining Answers in Genesis as director of research, Dr. Snelling became more deeply involved in the planning and execution of the magazine.

Rolling off the Presses

With the first issue complete, the small magazine team traveled to St. Louis to watch the inaugural issue roll off the presses. The magazine held 75 pages and included an article by Dr. John MacArthur on biblical worldview; a sneak peek inside the developing Creation Museum; and a short eulogy to Dr. Henry Morris Jr., co-author of The Genesis Flood, who had died earlier that year (read more about Dr. Morris’ influence on the creation movement on page 44). Readers could also enjoy a pull-out poster that provided a quick guide for understanding popular origins beliefs.

The early team watched the inaugural issue roll off the press in St. Louis.

The Kids Answers insert featured facts about the red-eyed tree frog, along with information on dinosaurs and fossils from AiG speaker Buddy Davis.

The companion site, AnswersMagazine.com, also debuted and included bonus content such as book chapters and behind-the-scenes content.

“There have been many challenges in the success of the magazine. God allows the challenges of life to grow us closer to him, and through all of these times, his faithfulness and grace has been overwhelming. The end result of it is so much more powerful because of the challenge!”
—Dan Zordel

The First Hump Day

Though the team had achieved an initial victory, it was time to do the process all over again. They planned the editorial calendar for upcoming issues, making improvements in design and content.

They sought out the expertise of other periodical publishers, writers, and designers at the Evangelical Press Association (EPA) and secured several outside proofers, including Jeanette Littleton, who has reviewed every issue except for the first. “We basically serve as ‘second eyes’ for the staff editorial team,” Jeanette says.

“We check things like punctuation and word usage and look for typos. And we also give editors feedback regarding content. If something may not be clear to the average reader, we may ask questions or point that out.”

Still, every so often, errors slipped through the multiple reviewers’ eyes. One error in particular haunts their memories.

The second issue had already been printed when someone spotted the error. Dale felt ill. Bactrian camels have two humps while dromedary camels have only one. Yet, here on the first page of Kids Answers, the facts were stated backward.

Still, the magazine had only been printed—not shipped. With some quick thinking, Dale and the team printed small stickers with the correct facts and enlisted volunteers to paste the stickers onto more than 30,000 copies before mailing them out.

“Christians tend to be creative and curious thinkers—after all, a lot of our lives are based on intangible concepts. I feel Answers addresses the questions of curious minds but points constantly back to our source of answers—Scripture. Answers encourages us to make God’s Word the basis of everything in our lives and gives us practical tools to do so.”
—Jeanette Littleton, magazine reviewer

The Right Man for the Job

In 2006, Mike Matthews was more than a little busy. As content manager over the Creation Museum signage, he was working 60-plus-hour weeks developing content for the soon-to-open museum. Still, when Dale asked, he agreed to proofread the inaugural magazine issue before it went to press.

“As an outsider during these early planning stages, I was as astonished as everyone else in the ministry when the tiny team announced they had achieved their goals,” Mike says. He didn’t expect that soon he would be part of achieving many other goals with the magazine.

With each issue, Dale asked Mike to get involved earlier and earlier in development until Mike was contributing from the earliest stages of content planning.

The week the museum opened in May 2007, as Mike breathed a sigh of relief, he received a late-night text from Dale, who asked him to lead the magazine as executive editor. “I immediately told him, 'Yes,'” Mike recalls. “It would be my highest honor and privilege to serve Christians this way.”

Writers Along the Way

Throughout the magazine’s history, dozens of creation scientists, biblical apologists, theologians, lay leaders, and pastors have contributed articles to the magazine. Many authors from the early issues continue to write for the magazine.

Dr. Georgia Purdom, who took over as the magazine’s production manager when Dale retired in 2023, wrote an article on the Intelligent Design movement in the first issue. “I remember being asked to write an article for the first issue while I was still teaching college. Never did I dream that I would someday play a role in publishing the magazine!”

Dr. Georgia Purdom, molecular geneticist and AiG speaker, serves as the production manager of Answers.

Dr. Snelling takes the award for most prolific writer, with 84 articles in Answers throughout the years and more in the pipeline. He’s taken readers on a journey to see the origin of fantastic places such as the Everglades, Yellowstone, La Brea Tar Pits, and the Chicxulub crater. He’s discussed seafloor sediment, plate tectonics, and mass extinctions and has recounted his struggle with the National Park Service to collect samples of rock in the Grand Canyon.

“By providing well-researched and understandable answers, the magazine has powerfully contributed to creation science literature. It has helped many Christian families build a biblical worldview, as evidenced by parents who were impacted by the magazine as children and are now using the magazine with their own children.”
—Dr. Andrew Snelling

His practical articles on geologic evidences have helped Answers readers understand the reality of the global, catastrophic flood and taught them to defend it scientifically.

Much of Dr. Snelling’s creation geology research has brought him to the Grand Canyon. The exposed geologic column found in the canyon’s walls is a grand display of evidence for a young earth. His trips have inspired and informed many people and have filled hundreds of pages of research papers and articles over the last two decades.

The Changing Times

Change is inevitable if a magazine wants to stay fresh and relevant to its readers. Over the years, Answers magazine went through several significant changes as a result of annual reader surveys and vision meetings with ministry leadership.

The first round of changes came in 2010, when the team reorganized the placement of articles to make it easier for new subscribers to recognize the relevance of the book of Genesis in science, culture, and evangelism. The magazine also incorporated more original artwork and helpful sidebars.

The second big change happened in 2014, when the magazine added 16 pages (about five additional articles per issue) to provide more content to equip and encourage readers. Even the magazine’s digital edition got an update when editors replaced the digital replica (a paper magazine pasted onto a screen, as Mike describes it) with an interactive magazine for the iPad.

In the spring of 2016, the magazine underwent its most radical revisions as the entire ministry prepared for the opening of the new Ark Encounter attraction. The magazine staff spent over a year researching, planning, and discussing with leaders at Answers in Genesis, as well as outside experts, to make sure the magazine would attract the broadest range of Christians possible.

According to Mike, “We wanted to make sure Ark visitors who had little knowledge of Genesis and a six-day creation would find the magazine easy to understand, thoughtful, and ultimately life-changing.” To that end, they added more bite-sized and easy-to-process infographics, art, and perspectives on cultural news.

“That’s the kind of people God brought to the magazine—people dedicated to the Lord’s glory and the truth of his Word.”
—Mike Matthews

During this time, AiG also increased output from four to six issues. “Increasing the number of magazine issues was almost unheard of at the time in publishing,” Mike says. “This monumental structural change required radically new processes without breaking our budget or overwhelming our limited pool of writers, editors, artists, and designers.”

Facing New Challenges

Current editor-in-chief Sarah Eshleman will never forget the day in 2019 when Dale called her into his office to announce that Mike was resigning to use his gifts in a different capacity. The next thing Dale said was, “I’d like for you to take his place.” She had been serving under Mike as the managing editor for only a year and a half—hardly enough time, it seemed, to learn all that his nearly 15 years of experience had to teach her. Despite her trepidation, Sarah stepped into the role.

Four months later, in March 2020, the COVID–19 pandemic hit. Along with much of the nation, the entire magazine team was temporarily laid off. They had been close to sending the May issue off to print. Would they be able to fulfill the issues for that year? Would the magazine survive this setback? As weeks passed, it seemed inevitable that for the first time in its history, Answers would be forced to delay an issue.

Two months later, Dale called Sarah and Dan Stelzer back to work. At the office, they learned that, due to financial cutbacks, Dale and ministry leaders had decided to return the magazine to a quarterly rotation.

And one more thing: They wanted to give readers something new—a full-sized Kids Answers magazine. Not just a fold-out insert, but a separate publication. Even with reduced staff, Sarah and Dan eagerly dove in. The team had dreamed for years about creating more fun content for young readers. And those young readers loved it! The upgrade was so popular that less than two years later, the team doubled Kids Answers again to 32 pages.

An Early Award Winner

Readers frequently comment on the magazine’s quality of writing and design. But they aren’t the only ones who notice. Even in its early days, Answers magazine was recognized by the EPA for its outstanding design and content.

A photo from the pro-life feature article “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: Anatomy of a Museum Exhibit” in Answers January–March (2021)

The magazine won its first awards in 2009, including the EPA’s top award, the Award of Excellence, two years in a row (2009 and 2010), competing with popular magazines such as Christianity Today and Focus on the Family’s Thriving Family. Through the years, the magazine has carried home over 130 awards.

As soon as it became a separate publication, Kids Answers started accumulating awards, including the Award of Excellence the year after it expanded to a full-size publication, and first place for publication redesign in 2023.

In some ways, the awards haven’t shocked Ken Ham. “Answers in Genesis has always tried to do things with excellence. Our staff wanted to maintain the same sort of excellence for the magazine.” Then again, he’s been surprised at the judges’ favor, seeing that Answers isn’t a typical Christian magazine. “Because of our stand on six literal creation days, a young earth, which is considered controversial in certain Christian areas in the church, I think it’s amazing that we have received so many awards for articles in particular because they are unique articles.”

“We live in a materially rich society, and we’re always giving and getting things. Many of those things get broken, used up, and thrown out. Answers magazine provides something unique. It’s a gift that comes four times a year—a gift that will encourage and equip people to live out their faith.”
—Dr. Georgia Purdom

Off-the-Page Adventures

Making the magazine isn’t all red pens, computer screens, and style manuals. The team has created great memories by exploring the creation that they write about.

When Sarah traveled to Colorado Springs for an EPA conference in 2022, she remembers being dumbfounded by the Rockies. “I kept peeking out at the mountain right behind my hotel, wondering how the locals ever went to sleep knowing the mountains were waiting to be seen just outside their windows.” The following year, she infused that sense of awe in the introduction she wrote for Dr. Snelling’s article, “Raising the Rocky Mountains” (Answers October–December 2023).

Similarly, Mike fondly recalls the nine-day Colorado River rafting adventure that he took in 2017 with magazine designer and photographer Chris Neville who captured the details of the trip. From the experience, Mike wrote one of his favorite articles, “Nine Days Below the Rim” (Answers July–August 2017).

“Most people will never have the opportunity to take such a life-changing trip,” Mike says. “So we decided to take readers along with us on a photo-journal trip to help them feel the splash of the water and hear the crackling fire at the campsites where Dr. Snelling taught about the Creator, as the towering flood-laid rock layers loomed overhead. It was quite an adventure!”

But not every adventure for the team takes place in the great outdoors. For the magazine’s assistant editor, Schuyler Vander Wilt, her everyday research is an excursion into wonder. On any given day, that research might vary between barnacle procreation and ancient biblical artifacts, shoebills and sea kelp, guinea pig language, electric vehicles, and the atmosphere on Venus. “I love the opportunity to come into work not knowing what I might learn about the amazing world we live in,” she says. “No matter how many topics we cover, we’re always discovering new things as we write and research.”

A Word of Encouragement

The Answers team always enjoys hearing how the magazine has impacted readers’ faith. “We have had many readers tell us that the magazine equips them with answers to the attacks on God’s Word today and provides answers to skeptical questions people have,” Ken Ham says. “It’s not just Bible teaching; it’s not just spiritual devotion. It’s really equipping them with apologetics.”

Every Monday morning, when Sarah opens the feedback email account, she never quite knows what to expect. Sometimes it’s a complaint about font size.

“Learning about God’s creation overwhelms me with wonder and praise. I then try to invest that wonder and praise back into the magazine.”
—Sarah Eshleman, Answers Editor in Chief

Other times there are concerns or questions. But when she finds testimonies of how Answers has affected readers’ lives, she shares them with the team. Often, when Sarah walks into the office, an envelope or two will be waiting on her desk. When she sees the scrawl of a child, she grins. Jokes, artwork, pictures of pets, questions—who knows what will be in this letter. “While we’re trying to teach and encourage them, our young readers end up encouraging me.”

And you never know where the encouragement might come from. A frequent contributor to Answers magazine and Kids Answers, John UpChurch recounted some of his favorite feedback.

“At our homeschool co-op, my daughters met another girl who had recently completed a report on an article I wrote. She told them how much the article strengthened her faith in the Bible. I also met a professor at a local public university who told me how Answers magazine was such a blessing to him in defending his faith. He doesn’t feel so alone because of the magazine.”

The team also receives invaluable feedback from subscriber surveys. “So many people say, ‘Don’t change anything!’” Dr. Purdom says. “In a world where change is constant, I think people look forward to something that is high quality. They know they can trust and depend on the articles to be timely, relevant, equipping, encouraging, and visually engaging.”

“I love knowing that God uses the magazine to impact children with the truth of Scripture.”
—John Upchurch, Answers contributor