1st Annual Carlsbad Eschatology Conference

Brian L. Martin

     Last March, my wife and I had the pleasure of attending the 1^st Annual Eschatology Conference in Carlsbad, New Mexico. I have to confess that I was a bit apprehensive about the location—it seemed to me that Carlsbad was pretty much out in the middle of nowhere. After driving from El Paso to Carlsbad I was sure that it was in the middle of nowhere. I wondered what kind of turnout the conference would receive (oh me of little faith!). Well, with attendance right at the century mark, it was obvious right away that the turnout was not disappointing—in fact, I even heard comments that it was the largest Preterist conference that some of the speakers had attended.

The lineup of speakers included some of the best-known names in Preterism: Kurt Simmons (who organized and hosted the conference), Don Preston, Ed Stevens, John Noē and Todd Dennis. All were previous contributing authors to Fulfilled! Magazine, but with the exception of John Noē, I had not met any of them. What a blessing it was to finally meet the individuals that I had been trading emails with for so long.

When Kurt’s promotional email stated that the conference grounds were situated next to the beautiful Pecos River, I figured that he was just “talking the place up.” Wrong again! I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a river with water that color—it was almost turquoise. My wife and I had an extra day after the conference before our flight out of El Paso, so we spent some time walking along the paved pathway that meanders along both sides of the river, joined by a floating bridge. The conference center itself was a beautiful facility, with the main lecture room walled-in by windows overlooking the river.

Many of the attendees met on Friday morning and went to Carlsbad Caverns—I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. The conference itself started Friday afternoon, and we heard from all five of the speakers. The morning and afternoon sessions on Saturday featured four speakers each, which made for some information-packed days.

During the breaks between lectures attendees had a chance to meet one another, as well as chat with the speakers and purchase materials which they had available. I forget which attendee came the farthest distance, but my wife and I met individuals from Idaho, Texas and Georgia, among other places.

The conference was both audio- and videotaped, so you haven’t missed out if you were unable to attend. Check Ed Steven’s site, www.preterist.org, for CD’s and DVD’s of the conference. Of course, there’s nothing like being there in person, so make plans to attend next year’s conference.