MINNEAPOLIS—They' everywhere—thousands of baptized Catholics with minimal faith formation.

They' looking for answers to the complications they' facing in their lives—anxiety, financial struggles and marital problems—but they' not finding solutions during their church experiences. When they go to church, they know they' fulfilling their duties, but they can' explain the Mass, the rosary or what the sacraments mean.

Jeff Cavins, former host of Eternal Word Television Network's popular “Life on the Rock” series, knows people who fit this description. They need to be re-evangelized, he said, so they can avoid the split in the Vatican II constitution Gaudium et Spes (The Church in the Modern World): “The split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age.”

Cavins hopes to help people bridge that gap between faith and everyday life by offering what he calls “relevant radio.”

“The main part of the definition of relevant radio is radio that speaks to people in the predicament they' in,” said Cavins, the executive director of programming and production for Starboard Network, a Catholic radio network based in Green Bay, Wis. “It's relevant to their daily lives. It brings the message of the Church to their situation.”

Today's Catholic broadcasting world focuses a lot on devotional and apologetic content, which is fine, he said. But what often happens is that the content of the faith is not always understood because the average Catholic does not understand the “subculture language” that broadcasters are accustomed to using, he said.

“We cannot assume that the unchurched or the Protestants understand our ‘family’ language,” Cavins said. “Therefore, we have to adjust our language to them, as Archbishop John Foley [president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications] suggests in his document on communications. We have to bring them the truth of the faith, but we have to deliver and communicate it in a way they understand. If our goal is to broadcast to the faithful, then our language will reflect that. Our vision is to cast our nets a little wider.”

Cavins’ net was cast April 21, the day his radio show, “Morning Air,” made its debut on 10 Starboard-owned and -operated stations, primarily in the Midwest, including the Ave Maria Network. The program, which airs Monday through Friday from 7-9 a.m. Central time, also airs on Saturdays with content based on the best shows from the week. “Morning Air's “ estimated listening audience is approximately 20 million people, according to Sherry Brownrigg, president of Starboard Network. Listeners can also tune in on the network's Web site at www.relevantradio.com

The show's content is timely, segment driven and theme centered.

Guests come from the Catholic world, but Cavins will also interview non-Catholic experts.

“Right now, the majority of Catholics take their lead when it comes to marriage and family and love and finances from Oprah and Dr. Phil and Rush Limbaugh and others,” Cavins said. “We believe that Rome sets the pace. And our job is to communicate that to the people.”

The program also includes listener call-ins, Catholic/Christian music, stock market reports, news, breaking news, weather, sports and a report from Rome.

“One of the great concerns we have at Starboard Network is we see a breakdown between the universal Church in Rome and the local parish,” Cavins said. “We want to be a conduit to bring the heart and message and passion of the Holy Father to the average person out there.”

Realizing it also wanted to be obedient with the U.S. bishops, the network was recently approved by the bishops’ conference as a national Catholic media outlet, a prestigious stamp of endorsement.

Other programs broadcast on the network include Dr. Ray Guarendi's “The Doctor Is In” (Guarendi is also a Register “Family Matters” columnist), Gregory Popcak's “Heart, Mind and Strength” and “Al Kresta Live.”

More Stations

Catholic radio has grown rapidly in the past several years; there are about 55 Catholic-owned stations around the country, according to Stephen Gajdosik, executive director of the Catholic Radio Association. That number is up from 20 stations about five years ago.

Doug Sherman, president of Immaculate Heart Radio and founder of Reno, Nev., Catholic radio station KIHM, said catechetical, evangelizing and devotional shows make up the majority of his station's programming. He's also intent on acquiring new stations.

In the years since KIHM started broadcasting in January 1997, he has gotten five other Catholic stations on the air, all in California and Nevada. Two more stations are being built, and he's looking to add two more stations to his network, including expansion into the San Francisco area.

” The Catholic faith is so powerful because it is truth, and it has an impact on people that you might never suppose,” said Sherman, adding that his stations have the potential to reach about 5 million listeners. “Our job is to broadcast the faith and let it land wherever it will.”

KBVM, a station based in Portland, Ore., has another philosophy when it comes to reaching its listeners. When it went on the air—on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8, 1989—there wasn' a lot of Catholic programming available. So it broadcast music during the day and went silent at night. Now it airs music during the daytime and catechetical teachings at night, seven days a week.

“We viewed music as a means of evangelizing,” said Steven Moffitt, KBVM's general manager. “We know it works. The reason it does is because music has the ability to bring us into contact with transcendent beauty. That beauty attracts us so greatly that we want more of it.”

Last December, the station received a call from a grateful listener, Moffitt said. Several months earlier, she had resolved to commit suicide. She wanted to play music in the background as she carried out her plan. So she turned on the radio, which happened to be tuned to

KBVM, and what she heard was beautiful music—so beautiful that it touched her soul and caused her to change her mind.

“In other words, she was brought into contact with transcendent beauty, and that beauty caused her to make a moral choice for good, changing her life,” Moffitt said. “To this day, she still listens to us.”

Carlos Briceno is based in Seminole, Florida.