We live in an age when technology permits us to tune in to radio programming from a satellite service or to listen to an ever-widening selection of radio channels through the Internet. Yet, even though satellite and Internet providers broadcast radio programming into our cars, homes, and businesses, Christians in the United States continue to scan FM and AM frequencies searching for radio transmissions on God, the Bible, or weekly Sunday services from churches down the road. For people who rarely listen to daily radio broadcasts on AM frequencies, AM radio sounds archaic, even nostalgic at times. Yet, AM Christian radio stations continue to broadcast fiery biblical sermons and contemporary praise music on a range of frequencies throughout rural and urban America. From Muskogee, OK (KMUS 1380AM) to Baltimore, MD (Heaven 600AM, The Heartbeat of the Gospel) to Oak Hill, WV (WOAY 860AM ), Christian wayfarers or bedside listeners can tune into local and national Christian programming with the turn of a dial or the push of a button.

Christian radio originated during the early twentieth century, shortly after the emergence of full-time professional radio stations. Tona Hangen, in her book Redeeming the Dial (2002), suggests the first religious radio broadcast took place in early 1921 at an Episcopalian church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Two radio technicians from KDKA-AM, adorned with choir robes, monitored a microphone located in the choir loft. The proceedings were broadcast by a wireless transmitter for hundreds of miles into the electronic receivers of listeners throughout western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. As a result, those persons with working radio receivers in their homes and barns who tuned to KDKA-AM that day were able to pick up the first transmission of a religious service ever broadcast in America.

The emergence of Christian radio during the early twentieth century reflected the religious adaptation of this form of secular media by Christian leaders. Rather than shun the new technology, Christians embraced radio as a means to broadcast their faith and theological convictions to a growing listening audience. Christians received these messages from the airwaves and tuned in for a variety of reasons including spiritual renewal, physical healing, and tips on how to help convert their friends and family to Christ.

Christian radio pioneers such as Aimee Semple McPherson and Charles Fuller transmitted their programs from California which were then heard in locations as far away as Hawaii and Oregon. McPherson, considered the first woman to preach a sermon on the radio, broadcast messages live from her Angelus Temple in Los Angeles throughout the 1920s. (Click to hear the 1999 National Public Radio All Things Considered broadcast on McPherson.) During the 1930s and 1940s, Charles Fuller operated a radio program called Radio Revival Hour which offered listeners gospel songs, sermons and Bible lessons. (Click to hear an undated broadcast of Fuller's Old-Fashioned Revival Hour:) By the 1950s and 1960s, Billy Graham broadcast live sermons from his crusades across the United States. Audiences from Chicago to Charlotte to New York could tune in at home to Graham's Hour of Decision radio program and hear a revival message without ever needing to enter a packed sports stadium or crusade site.

The ministries of McPherson, Fuller, and Graham offered audiences regular weekly broadcasts often played at the same time and on the same radio channel. In this way, Christians throughout America were able to hear these evangelists on a regular basis and could even imagine these popular speakers as their own personal ministers speaking directly to them in the privacy of their homes or automobiles. Radio sermons emphasizing salvation through Christ or gospel programs on divine healing could be heard at the dinner table, while in one's sitting room, or while milking cows in the barn. These broadcasts brought nationally-renowned evangelists into the homes of Christian listeners and provided a sense of security and trust in the radio preacher. This often resulted in radio audiences eagerly sending off personal letters and financial contributions to revivalists who listeners would likely never meet.

Today, as throughout the twentieth century, religious radio stations continue to use their frequencies as a public medium to fulfill the biblical Great Commission of Matthew 28. Many station managers and radio evangelists firmly believe their religious programming and heart-felt sermons are commissioned by God to reach the unconverted listener who might tune in to their frequency at any given time.

Author Howard Dorgan in The Airwaves of Zion (1993) explores the purposes behind religious radio stations throughout Appalachia and suggests many of the people involved in weekly broadcasts sense that they are there by God's direction. For these ministers and gospel singers of Appalachia, radio serves as a platform which provides them with an opportunity to use their talents for God. By preaching sermons and singing Christian songs from a broadcast booth revivalists-of-the-air proclaim a message which can be heard by anyone listening to the frequency within a few hundred miles of the station. For these ministers, their sermons are heard by far more people on the radio than by those who sit in the pews of their church on any given Sunday.

Some Christians listen to religious radio in order to avoid secular music or talk shows they consider too offensive for their families. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a government watchdog agency which monitors U.S. airwaves, sets certain guidelines restricting language and/or programming that some people find offensive. Radio personalities, including morning show host Howard Stern (now with Sirius satellite radio), have often been at odds with the FCC or with persons who find such programs inappropriate. To limit these types of broadcasts from entering the home, some persons will tune their dials to Christian radio stations which market "family radio"programming that is considered "safe" for the entire family.

Christians also listen to religious radio in order to allow the broadcasted messages to witness to their friends. One radio station advises its carpooling listeners to tune in to the channel during the morning commute so they and their co-travelers will not be embarrassed by the inappropriate morning programming of other non-Christian channels. For some listeners on their way to work or sitting in their office, religious radio provides Christian music and programming which encourages the listener to change the way they live their lives. Through a sermon, Bible study, or music selection listening to the radio functions in a similar way as sitting in a church sanctuary. If by chance a non-believer happens to be listening they might hear about Jesus or the biblical story of salvation and convert to Christianity.

Although the majority of Christian radio programming provides sermons and music, other stations have taken a more holistic stance, venturing to add on-air advice for those who seek answers to personal problems and who seek to interpret difficult or obscure passages in the Scriptures. These call-in programs perhaps provide an apothecary of sorts for the listening public while often presenting a lively exchange of dogmatic views between caller and radio host.

The fascination with Christian radio appears to be an abiding one. Although the costs involved in running a broadcast station has increased, and although advances in satellite and Internet technology threatens to erode the market, the 80-year tradition of AM radio lives on. For their part, listeners hang on to the words of the "prophets"of the great they wait expectantly not for commandments written on tablets of stone as Moses did, but for nuggets of truth that emanate boldly over the airwaves.

Christopher J. Anderson, PhD Candidate, Drew University Madison, NJ