Genesis Agendum
Genesis Agendum is a charity which is registered at the UK’s Charity Commission under number 1054336. This charity has been around since the 1990s, and appears primarily involved in providing lectures damning mainstream science and promoting the fundamentalist creationist agenda. Its annual turnover is tiny, so we assume that it is primarily involved in paying the out-of-pocket expenses of speakers and other costs associated with giving lectures.
The organisation describes its aims as "demonstrating the accuracy of the Bible through historical and scientific scholarship ......" (Strewth!!!)
It states that its long term aim "is to establish a research facility and present the historical and scientific evidence in the most effective way to the widest possible audience. The founding discussions, in 1994, included the idea of establishing a high quality public exhibition centre in London."
The key feature of Genesis Agendum is that its speakers are basically the "intellectuals" of the UK's creationist movement.
So, what connection do you think that this has with the 27 signatories to the Estelle Morris letter, the one where they told her and the public that they were acting as individuals, and did not "necessarily" reflect the opinions of the organisations that they were "associated" with.
Nothing?
Well, that’s strange because of the nine current trustees of Genesis Agendum, five were signatories to the Estelle Morris letter.
Moreover, the charities "correspondent" (term used by the Charity Commission) is Geoffrey Lewis, one of the five and former Director of Museum Studies at Leicester University.
Indeed, the registered address of Genesis Agendum is 12 Carisbrooke Avenue, Leicester, LE2 3PA (UK).
So here, lifted straight from the Charity Commission by cut and paste, is the list of the trustees:
MR PAUL GILBERT WATTS BED, MR PAUL ANTHONY GARNER BSC FGS (1), DR ARTHUR JOHN JONES BSC MED PHD MBIOL CBIOL (2), MR GEOFFREY DAVID LEWIS MR FSA HONFMA (3), DR GEOFFREY JOHN RUSSELL BARNARD, DR JAMES HENRY JOHN PEET (4), MR JEFFREY LOWE MSC MCGI DMS (5), MR PETER SENIOR BSC CPHYS MINSTP, DR JONATHAN CHAMBERS BSC PHD
The five are numbered in the list.
Of the others we have no information on Paul Watts and little on Jonathan Chambers.
One wonders who was on the list of trustees back in 2002 at the time of the Estelle Morris letter.
We also note from the web site of Genesis Agendum that a total of nine of the 27 signatories to the letter have been involved with Genesis Agendum, including Andy McIntosh, Sylvia Baker, Paul Garner, John Peet, David Tyler, Stuart Burgess, Nancy Darrall, Bill Worraker and Nick Fuller. That's nine of the 27 - a third. In other words, in addition to the trustees, it attracts other creationists with an academic bent.
