PRESS RELEASE
May 12, 2006

UNLOCKING THE DA VINCI CODE 
Local Church Hosts National Simulcast Event

Raleigh/Cary, NC --  The Da Vinci Code has grown from popular fiction to cultural phenomenon---inciting controversy and raising questions on all sides and leaving people searching for answers. On Sunday, May 21, at 7:00 PM, Hope Community Church in Raleigh will host Unlocking the Da Vinci Code, a 90-minute national simulcast event via satellite on CCN. The simulcast will be shown on two 11’ x 20’ HDTV video screens in Hope’s 1,500 seat auditorium. The community is invited to attend this complimentary event. Hope Community Church is located at 821 Buck Jones Road in southwest Raleigh.

The event is hosted by:

Lee Strobel – Best selling author of The Case for Christ and former award-winning legal editor for the Chicago Tribune

Mark Mittelberg – Executive Director of Evangelism at the Willow Creek Association and co-author of Becoming a Contagious Christian

Dr. Erwin Lutzer – Senior Pastor of the historic Moody Church in Chicago and author of The Da Vinci Deception

Topics to be covered include:

• Where does fact end and fiction begin?
• Is historical Christianity a fourth century invention?
• Was the divinity of Jesus voted on at the Council of Nicaea?
• Were Jesus and Mary Magdalene married?
• Are the books in the Bible the right ones?
• Is Christ just another religious figure or mortal prophet?

The simulcast will open with footage of Strobel at the Louvre Museum in Paris, the site of the fictional murder that opens The Da Vinci Code. Lutzer will then address the historical issues raised by both the book and the movie. Finally, Strobel, Mittelberg and Lutzer will wrap up the event with a LIVE interactive Q&A session for the satellite audience.

The teaching pastors of Hope are currently engaged in a Sunday sermon series encompassing The Da Vinci Code. Sunday service times are 9:30 and 11:15 AM. For more info about Hope and/or the Unlocking the Da Vinci Code simulcast event, visit Hope’s website at www.gethope.net or call 532.0620.

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Direct press inquiries to:
Debbie Dodson
Promotions Coordinator
Hope Community Church
919.532.0620 x109
debbied@gethope.net
www.gethope.net