Our Staff
The team at MBT is very pleased to bring you a website that makes it possible for you to book and enjoy comprehensive Bible tours in museums throughout the world. Below is our current staff (provided for those who prefer to know who they’re speaking to or to know who are working behind the scenes to make these tours possible):
Owner, Executive Manager, Writer & Editor
Owner & Bookkeeping
Co-founder, Virtual Tours Manager, Podcast Manager, Tour Guide/Virtual Tour Guide, Writer & Editor
Tour Guide/Virtual Tour Guide/ Writer & Editor
Tour Guide/Virtual Tour Guide, Writer & Editor
Website Developer, Promotional, Writer, Editor
General Manager & Customer Service
Assistant Manager & Customer Service
All praise and thanks go to Jehovah for making these tours possible and for the opportunity that we are given to share the research done with our fellow Brothers and Sisters!
Our Story
The travel company Bethel Coach Tours (which owns and operates Museum Bible Tours) was first started in 1988. BCT saw an opportunity to assist fellow brothers and sisters to visit the Bethel facilities in New York State, including the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New York City. So we gathered information on how we could do it and went to work. Our first trip ever to New York City and Bethel was organized for our local congregation in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Now BCT arranges for Jehovah’s Witnesses from all over the world to see the Bethel homes (branch offices) in different countries.
Fast-forward to 2016 and another need became evident. For several years Jehovah’s Witnesses living on the east coast have enjoyed taking Bible tours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. We thought, could something similar be organized on the west coast? Again, we gathered information on how we could do it and went to work. The BCT team came up with a website called Museum Bible Tours which serves as a clearinghouse and portal for all of our Bible tour arrangements. Presently, we offer Bible tours at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in Los Angeles, California, The Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp, Belgium the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Israel, the Oriental Institute Museum in Chicago, Illinois, and the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC. In time, we hope to have other reputable museums as part of the Museum Bible Tours’ arrangements.
In keeping with BCT’s approach of using coaches to transport brothers and sisters across the United States, and in other countries, to see Bethel, BCT uses a coach as its logo. To honor BCT’s tradition, Museum Bible Tours’ logo is an ancient chariot. Additionally, you will notice that the banners on the chariot rotate and appear in three different languages. The banner in Hebrew is in honor of the fact that part of the Bible was originally written in Hebrew. The banner in Greek is in recognition of the fact that other parts of the Bible were originally written in Greek. And the Latin banner is in honor of the fact that this language was one of the first languages that the Bible was translated into after its completion.
What do the banners say in Hebrew, Greek and Latin? “Bible Tours.”
We know that you will thoroughly enjoy your Bible tours at all of the museums we are offering tours through Museum Bible Tours!
A Brief History of Bible Tours
In 1912 arrangements were made by the branch office in the United Kingdom to host over 300 convention delegates and to have them all enjoy a special tour of the British Museum. These delegates were taken on a two-hour tour and appreciated viewing the museum’s most well-known artifacts. Seven tour guides were trained by a brother who worked at the museum. These brothers continued to conduct these tours for about four years after the convention. Interestingly, the original start times and day of the week (10:00 am and 2:00 pm and Saturday) for the Bible tours still follows this pattern today.
In 1969 there was a series of six self-guided Bible tours of the British Museum that were made available to the convention delegates who attended the Wembley International Convention in London, England. These sets of tours were later used as the basis for two of the tours presented by Jack House and later his son Derek. They started leading congregation groups on weekend Bethel trips to London and the British Museum. At around the same time, the late Emmanuel Zervides of Meander Travel enthusiastically started presenting many more Bible tours, also at the British Museum, every Saturday, and the two groups have worked together for many years.
Since 2011, Macy Mah and her team in Paris, France began offering a variety of Bible tours at the Louvre Museum and of the city.
In the 2000’s World Powers Tours began giving Bible tours at the world-renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, USA.
Also, in the 2010’s Rocky Scrimshire and Timothy E. Martin of Bethel Coach Tours (an Online Tour Company of Jehovah’s Witnesses for Jehovah’s Witnesses, their families and friends) organized and began conducting Bible tours at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem (with the able help of Derek House of the U.K.)
In addition, in 2017 Rocky and Timothy started offering Bible tours at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp, Belgium, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, and the Oriental Institute Museum in Chicago, Illinois.
Also, in 2017 MBT purchased World Powers Tours which was operating a tour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. MBT is now operating tours at the MET!
Then in 2018 MBT began conducting Bible tours at the beautiful Getty Villa Museum in Los Angeles, California.
At the end of 2019 MBT discontinued conducting tours at the Getty Villa Museum. However, beginning in February 2020 MBT began conducting tours at the beautiful Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California. More tours will be coming to Skokie, Illinois, and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In May 2020 Virtual Museum Bible Tours (VMBT), a new division of Museum Bible Tours (MBT), started offering and will continue to offer virtual Bible tours at a number of museums throughout the world.
All of these tour arrangements in the various museums throughout the world are being done under the auspices of Museum Bible Tours (operated by parent company Bethel Coach Tours).
While you’re here, please feel free to learn more about us and read our list of Frequently Asked Questions regarding our tour!