History of Stand to Reason

Stand to Reason was founded by Greg Koukl and Melinda Penner in 1993.

Greg Koukl had been a teaching pastor at Hope Chapel in Hermosa Beach for several years and had begun broadcasting on KBRT radio in 1990.  Greg had demonstrated a rich gift in teaching and education as he directed the adult education program at Hope Chapel.  In the fall of 1989, Melinda began volunteering for the church helping Greg with the adult education program.  Melinda's gifts in teaching and administration proved to be a good match with Greg's and their common interest in the defense of the faith laid a good foundation for what was to come with STR.

In January of 1993, Greg was invited to teach at the Hindustan Bible Institute in India.  Bobby Gupta, the visionary leader of that ministry, challenged Greg on that trip to expand his teaching opportunities by starting his own organization.  When Bobby visited the U.S. in March of that year, he adamantly repeated his challenge to Greg over breakfast on March 9.  Greg presented the idea to Melinda that evening and she enthusiastically endorsed the idea of starting a new organization to train Christians.  Greg knew immediately he wanted to name the organization Stand to Reason.  They presented the idea of STR to a group of people who'd been part of the prayer support for Greg's radio work on May 1 asking them two things:  First, was this a good idea.  Second, if it was a good idea, would they support it financially for a year?  The response was enthusiastic and overwhelming.  These people represented the "Founders" who gave their support to this new venture.

STR started, then, at an extra desk in a crowded office at Hope Chapel.  Greg and Melinda worked on STR after their fulltime jobs.  A year later, Greg left the staff of Hope Chapel to work fulltime for STR, and Melinda left teaching to join the staff of two, plus many volunteers who helped get STR going. 

STR moved to larger free lodging at First Baptist in Lomita, CA in 1997.  Scott Klusendorf joined the staff of STR in October 1997 as our second speaker focusing on bio-ethics.  STR moved to its first real office space early in 2001, its current location.  Scott has since started his own organization, Life Training Institute, and three other speakers have joined the staff to expand the work of STR:  Steve Wagner, Brett Kunkle, and Alan Shlemon.  STR's support staff has grown to five part-time and three full-time employees now, plus the volunteers that continue to help STR in vital ways.

STR's speakers teach hundreds of times each year all of the U.S., Canada, and globally.  Greg continues to do the weekly call-in radio program.  And STR's website has become a critical aspect of its work, providing training to over 100,000 visitors each month.