Any Trekkies out there? I have a great book for you authored by a friend and teammate of mine on GFM InterVarsity staff. Meet Mark Hansard! Mark lives and works in Manhattan, Kansas and does faculty ministry at Kansas State University. For the past few years Mark has used Star Trek as a framework for talking about Christianity. His background in Philosophy of Religion and decades of experience teaching apologetics makes him a compelling and helpful mentor for anyone wanting to connect the dots between faith, philosophy and science.

If you’d like to meet my friend Mark, you have an opportunity this Sunday night, October 19th at 7:00pm. Mark will be hosting an Ask Me Anything zoom session. Log-in, meet Mark and ask him ANY question you might have about faith, science.. and all things Trek!

Join Mark’s AMA session at this link!

I’ve been reading Star Trek and Faith this week. I’ll post the table of contents down below so you can get a feel for how the book is put together. My recollection of watching the Star Trek Original Series dates back to my high school days when (by that time, 1978-1982) Channel 3 broadcast reruns every night after the news. I remember trying to get all my homework done in time to watch another episode. One thing I’m realizing as I read Star Trek and Faith is that the entire Trek-Universe (if you will) covers a lot of material I’ve never seen or even heard of! Let me know if you have an easy way to find and watch all those “extra series” beyond Captain Kirk, Spock, Scotty and Bones. I suppose if you’re a through and through Trekkie you’ll even know all the abbreviations (I have to keep looking them up in the book’s intro). Mark’s book runs the entire Trek World gambit! In fact the book just released this summer is merely Volume One. Volume Two will be released in 2026!

So what spiritual questions does Star Trek deal with?

“From Star Trek: Strange New Worlds to The Original Series of the 1960s, Star Trek has always explored deep religious and philosophical questions. Is there a God? If he exists, how would that change our knowledge of ourselves and our place in the universe? What is human nature, and how ought humans to flourish? What is the meaning of life?” -Star Trek and Faith, p. 16

Way to go, Mark! GFM InterVarsity whole-heartedly blesses your new calling as an author! Pray for Mark’s ministry calendar this year as he juggles events and faculty bible studies on campus with opportunities to travel, speak and promote his book!

Thanks Team!