Christ on the Air

WYOMING, Mich. — In the life of a parish, church bells act as a reminder for prayer, and the bell tower at the Holy Name of Jesus Church in Wyoming, Mich., is no exception. Starting this summer, however, the tower will also be used in a different way.

An antenna will be placed there in August, and after several weeks of testing, the church's very own micro radio station will begin airing Catholic programs, Deacon Tom Jurek said. Deacon Jurek, who has more than 25 years of broadcasting experience, including ownership and management of four Midwestern radio stations, hopes the radio launch will be in September.

”The real heart of this whole thing is evangelization,” he said.

Because Holy Name's pastor, Father Stephen Dudek, was trying to figure out how to reach out to the town's growing Hispanic population, Deacon Jurek said he approached him last November with the idea.

Realizing that many Hispanics listen to the radio, they agreed that the medium could help immigrants adjust to life in the town and help nourish them spiritually.

It's also relatively inexpensive, Deacon Jurek said. The total cost for all the equipment and wiring: about $6,000.

Holy Name of Jesus Radio will operate at one-tenth of a watt – known in the business as a “part 15” micro station – and won't need a Federal Communications Commission license, he said. All that's needed is a transmitter, an antenna, several computers and other basic and inexpensive radio equipment and software.

Once the station becomes operational, anyone who turns on 1610 AM within a two-mile radius of the church will get to listen to about 12 hours each of Hispanic and English programming, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Deacon Jurek said.

The station will be housed in a locker in a room in the church used by brides before their weddings. The locker will store the microphones, amplifiers, audio mixer and two computers, he said. Today's technology allows stations of any size to use computers to run pre-recorded programs with minimal maintenance and attention, said Deacon Jurek, who plans to monitor the station from his home computer, using special software called “PC Anywhere.”

He contacted various Catholic organizations and apostolates – including Catholic Answers, St. Joseph's Radio, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Radio Maria – to get Spanish and English programs for free, he said. Some of the shows include “Tu Compañero Católico” and “American Catholic Radio,” a new program by the Franciscans that includes the “Saint of the Week.” Music and news will also air in Spanish and English and will be provided for free, he said.

Call to Prayer

With Spanish-speaking help from various lay people and clergy of the Diocese of Grand Rapids, the church also plans to produce local programs in Spanish, he said. The information provided, such as where to find a good doctor, will help Hispanics adjust to life in the community, he said. Parish news – including Mass times – and a program involving students and teachers from the church's school will air, as well, Deacon Jurek said.

The Spanish Mass, which started a month ago and draws around 300 people, will also be broadcast, along with one Mass in English, said Father Dudek, who added that he's excited by the “great potential” of this “work-in-progress.”

”It's using technology to call people to prayer in the 21st century,” said Father Dudek, who is also the pastor at St. Joseph the Worker, a church in nearby Grand Rapids that also has a large Hispanic population.

Radio's popularity among Catholics is growing, as evidenced by the almost 100 Catholic-owned stations around the country now, said Stephen Gajdosik, executive director of the Catholic Radio Association. He added that there are about 14 low-power Catholic stations. These stations have more power than a micro station but require a license, which the FCC only makes available during limited time periods.

Even though Holy Name's station has a weak signal, Gajdosik said what really matters is the message and the transformation of hearts.

”The power of the Gospel itself is what builds Catholic radio,” he said. “It's not our adeptness in marketing or programming. It's the person of Jesus Christ within the program… Obviously, it won't have the impact of a larger station. But for the people who are able to use, it will have as great an impact as a 100,000-watt station. Because, if I can paraphrase it, ‘It's the message, stupid.’ Whoever you can get to listen to it, if it's only a half-dozen people who are listening, well, that's a half-dozen people that are growing in holiness.”

Using the media to help in evangelization is encouraged by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in their national plan for evangelization, “Go and Make Disciples,” said Paulist Father John Hurley, executive director of the conference's Secretariat for Evangelization.

”Radio can be an integral way to communicate the Gospel,” Father Hurley said.

Costs and Benefits

Other churches have also understood how radio can be a powerful evangelizing tool. For instance, in Breckenridge, Texas, a small town about 120 miles west of Dallas, Father George Foley, the pastor of Sacred Heart Church, paid around $31,000 for the equipment necessary to start a low-power FM radio station. Called Galilee Radio, the station has aired 20 hours of Spanish programming and four hours of English programs, seven days a week, since February 2003, Father Foley said. The shows are all from EWTN, he added.

Father Foley is the administrator at two parishes and provides the sacraments in three others while conducting a prison ministry. He said his time and knowledge of Spanish are limited, so he needed someone -- or something, in this case – to present the faith to Hispanics.

He turned to low-power radio and, because he bought the best equipment, is able to reach between 15,000 and 20,000 people within a 45-mile radius, he said.

”We're talking to everybody,” not just Catholics, he said. “Who knows where and when God's grace is going to fall on somebody in a particular place during a particular time when a particular radio program is being played?”

He said a woman told his secretary that she was contemplating suicide because of marital and financial problems. She would often turn on the radio at night when she was feeling particularly desperate. Listening to the programs gave her the strength not to kill herself, Father Foley said.

He estimated it costs him around $120 a month to run the station. “If I can save one person from committing suicide, this radio has paid its way,” he said.

Father John Trigilio, president of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, said the benefits of running a micro station far outweigh the costs and encouraged pastors to take advantage of today's technology. He said having a micro station gives a pastor the ability “to make a teleconference call to all his parishioners.”

“This isn't the substitute for being in the parish,” he said. “This is the means to bring people into the parish — and keeping them in the parish.”

Carlos Briceno writes from Seminole, Florida.