Ohio History Journal

JAY D. GREEN

"Nothing to Advertise Except God":

Christian Radio and the Creation

of an Evangelical Subculture in

Northeast Ohio, 1958-1972

 

 

 

"How I praise God for friends like you!" exclaimed an excited Elise

Marshall in a 1961 letter. "There have been times in my life when I felt very

lonely.... Now I have many friends who love my precious Lord the same

as I do, and I have sweet fellowship with each one of you even though I may

never see you.^"1 Testimonials like this were frequent in the 1960s among an

expanding circle of northeast Ohio residents who happened upon a common

source of strength and encouragement. But, ironically, most recipients of this

"hope," like Mrs. Marshall, would never actually meet their encouraging

"friends." They had discovered a haven of Christian fellowship, not within

their church or among neighbors and relatives, but through listening hour af-

ter hour to WCRF, a Cleveland-based Christian radio station.

Christian uses of the electronic mass media have profoundly influenced the

shape of American religion in the twentieth century. Although attention is

generally directed toward Christianity's more flamboyant involvement with

television, Christian radio has also made substantial contributions to

America's religious life. Since first introduced for popular consumption in

1921, radio has been used as a uniquely powerful tool for the proliferation of

religious ideas. The extent of its specific effect on those who have listened to

it, however, remains a neglected topic in American religious history.² In or-

 

 

Jay D. Green is a doctoral candidate in history at Kent State University. He wishes to thank

WCRF manager Dick Lee and members of his staff for generously making station records and

facilities available to him. He also extends his thanks to Larry Eskridge, John Fea, Dr. John C.

Green, Dr. John Jameson, Eric J. Miller, Dr. David Morgan, and Dr. Robert P. Swierenga for

reading various drafts of the manuscript and offering helpful suggestions. A version of this

piece was presented at the Conference on Media, Religion, and Culture at the University of

Colorado in January of 1996.

 

1. Elise Marshall, Chardon,Ohio to WCRF-FM, [no date, 1961 file], "WCRF Listener

Letters," WCRF Radio Station, Brecksville, Ohio. (All subsequent letters referred to in this pa-

per are in the WCRF Listener Letter File.)

2. There have been relatively few scholarly discussions of religious radio. The following

articles consist of broad but helpful historical sketches on major personalities and programs, as

well as important developments between Protestant radio and the FCC. However, they offer no

real insights regarding radio's influence and meaning for American religious life, nor for its

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172                                                              OHIO HISTORY

 

der to understand better the role of radio in religious culture, some unique his-

torical dynamics of Christian radio will be explored within a limited geo-

graphic and chronological setting. This study will consider the interface be-

tween northeast Ohio's evangelical community and the area's paramount

Christian radio station, WCRF, from 1958 to 1972. Here some basic princi-

ples will be suggested regarding the significance of Christian radio for its re-

cipients, both individually and collectively.

John Bachman has identified "climate-creation" as one of the primary func-

tions of the religious mass media, and the case of WCRF lends support to his

assertion.³ WCRF helped to expedite a climate of transdenominational soli-

darity among evangelical Christians in northeast Ohio. Cleveland's extensive

religious pluralism in the postwar decades garnered notoriety among evangeli-

cals who widely believed that the region-nicknamed the "graveyard of evan-

gelism"-could never muster a strong or unified evangelical movement.⁴

This paper will summarize some distinct ways that WCRF helped recast the

region's structure of "symbolic boundaries"-the means by which people or-

 

 

 

 

individual listeners: Quentin Schultz, "Evangelical Radio and the Rise of the Electric Church,

1921-1948," Journal of Broadcasting and Electric Media, 32 (Summer, 1988), 289-306;

Dennis Voskuil, "Reaching Out: Mainline Protestantism and the Media," in Between the Times:

The Travail of the Protestant Establishment in America, 1900-1960. ed. William Hutchison

(New York, 1989); Quentin Schultz, "The Invisible Medium: Evangelical Radio," in American

Evangelicals and the Mass Media, ed., Quentin Schultz (Grand Rapids, Mich., 1990): 171-95;

Dennis Voskuil, "The Power of the Air: Evangelicals and the Rise of Religious Broadcasting,"

in American Evangelicals and the Mass Media, ed., Quentin Schultz (Grand Rapids, Mich.,

1990): 69-98. Larry Eskridge has rightly called on scholars to reflect more carefully on reli-

gious broadcasting and its important relationship to the evangelical subculture. See

"Evangelical Broadcasting: Its Meaning for Evangelicals," in Transforming Faith: The Sacred

and Secular in Modern American History, ed. M.L. Bradbury and James B. Gilbert (New York,

1989), 128. In his criticism of the bibliographic dearth on this topic, however, Eskridge fails to

note Stewart Hoover's helpful sociological study that pointedly addresses the Electronic

Church and the question of collective meaning, though he focuses exclusively on television.

See his Mass Media Religion: The Social Sources of the Electronic Church (Newbury Park,

Calif., 1988).

3. John Bachman, The Church in the World of Radio-Television (New York, 1960), 122-32.

4. Michael McTighe identifies the key attribute of Cleveland's religious climate as plural-

ism. The city has been home to an extremely diverse population of ethnic groups since the lat-

ter nineteenth century and these naturally included a multiplicity of religious traditions. See

McTighe, "Religion," Encyclopedia of Cleveland History (Bloomington, Ind., 1987), 825-29.

The origin of the phrase "Graveyard of Evangelism" is less clear. In both casual and formal

interviews, early associates of WCRF used the term to describe the religious setting of

Cleveland in the 1950s and before. Dick Florence (station manager 1967-1978) attributed its

origin to Billy Graham himself who, according to Florence, was afraid to hold an evangelistic

meetings in the city for fear that the great amount of cooperation needed to pull it off could

never happen in a religiously diverse city like Cleveland. J. Richard Florence, phone interview,

1 March 1995, Ravenna, Ohio / St. Petersburg, Florida. An article about Cleveland and WCRF

appearing in Moody Bible Institute's monthly magazine did not use the term, but it indicated this

perception. See Myra Grant. "How Cleveland Tuned In," Moody Monthly (October, 1968),

38-42.

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"Nothing to Advertise Except God"                                           173

 

ganized their environments and made sense of the world.⁵ The symbolic

changes advanced via Christian radio made the prospect of a visible, ecumeni-

cal evangelicalism in northeast Ohio increasingly feasible by the early 1970s.

 

An Historical Overview

 

In 1955, two Cleveland-area businessmen met to discuss the possibility of

starting a noncommercial, interdenominational Christian radio station for

northeast Ohio. Harry McKee and Robert Berry conceived of a station that

would serve simply to communicate "the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the com-

munity."⁶ Their idea soon attracted a cadre of like-minded individuals that

eventually became the Christian Radio Fellowship (CRF). A nonprofit cor-

poration, CRF was designed to raise funds, purchase equipment, and generally

oversee the planning stages of the new station.⁷ In 1957, CRF welcomed

expert radio engineer Carl Smith to advise the group on technical facets re-

lated to starting a new station and to ferret out potential problems. Under

Smith's direction, CRF made arrangements to secure an FM license as well

as the broadcast facilities of former Cleveland station KYW.⁸

As the new station began to take shape, CRF members gave serious

thought to who would oversee and operate it. Their desire to produce a sta-

tion of the highest quality led them to contact Chicago's Moody Bible

Institute (MBI), the "self styled West Point of Christian Service," "mother of

Bible schools," and pioneer in Christian radio.⁹ Founded in 1926, Moody's

 

5. I acknowledge Robert Wuthnow's The Restructuring of American Religion: Society and

Faith Since World War II (Princeton, N.J., 1988), 9-10, for introducing to me the concept of

"symbolic boundaries."  He, in turn, credits the idea to anthropologist Mary Douglas.

Wuthnow uses the term to signify the context within which all human social interaction takes

place. Symbolic boundaries are the means by which people organize their social environments

and make sense of their worlds. Used in this setting, I contend that as evangelicalism gained

greater movement solidarity, the older "symbolic boundaries" that governed religious actions

and discourse within Cleveland were altered. Until evangelicals united as a visible subculture,

they perceived and received their social environments as cognitive minorities and cultural out-

casts. When such boundaries were redrawn their collective and symbolic role as cultural cus-

todian replaced that of cognitive minority.

6. Harry McKee, interview, 3 March 1995, Aurora, Ohio.

7. Christian Radio Fellowship was established as an official nonprofit corporation on

January 9, 1958, under the General Corporation Act of Ohio. A lengthy description of the

group's "purposes" is listed within its "Articles of Incorporation." Harry W. McKee, J. Paul

Grob, and E.J. Domeck, "Proceedings of the Incorporators," for "Christian Radio Fellowship,"

9 January 1958, "Christian Radio Fellowship File," WCRF Radio Station, Brecksville, Ohio. (All

subsequent notations concerning Christian Radio Fellowship are also found in the "Christian

Radio Fellowship File.")

8. Cleveland News, November 21, 1958.;"Christian Radio Fellowship Meeting Minutes," 8

March 1958.

9. Akron Beacon Journal, July 18, 1959.; "WCRF-FM," in Fine Arts, 7 (March 29, 1960), 3.

For more on Moody Bible Institute-named after Chicago's celebrated nineteenth-century

evangelist, Dwight L. Moody-see Gene Getz's MBI: The Story of Moody Bible Institute

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174                                          OHIO HISTORY

WMBI was one of the earliest all-religious radio stations in the country. In its first thirty years, WMBI developed an esteemed reputation for high-caliber Christian broadcasting.10 In addition to its sterling credentials, CRF mem- bers were attracted to MBI's nondenominational status. It maintained a coop- erative, yet thoroughly independent posture within Chicago's Christian com- munity. Moreover, MBI remained committed to its original and singlular purpose of "winning the unconverted and building them up in the faith."11 CRF members Howard Dunlop and Harry McKee traveled to Chicago in 1957 hoping that MBI officials would underwrite the Cleveland project.12     (Chicago, 1969) and James Findlay's Dwight L. Moody: American Evangelist, 1837-1899 (Chicago, 1969). 10. Martin J. Neeb, "An Historical Study of American Non-Commercial AM Broadcast Stations Owned and Operated by Religious Groups, 1920-1966," (unpublished Ph.D. diss., Northwestern University, 1967), 455. 11. "WCRF-FM," in Fine Arts, 7 (March 29, 1960), 7. 12. Carl E. Smith, "Highlights of WCRF," unpublished recollections of WCRF's early days, n.d.

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"Nothing to Advertise Except God"                                    175

 

After Dunlop and McKee presented a proposal for a new station modelled after

WMBI, the MBI administration flatly turned them down. MBI considered FM

radio "a gamble" at that time and, in their customary conservatism, shrank

from a seemingly risky venture. The persistent CRF, however, eventually

persuaded MBI to assume responsibility for running the Cleveland station, on

the condition that the Ohio group independently raise the necessary funds to

get it up and running and then turn the operation in its entirety over to MBI.

When both parties agreed to these terms, WCRF was born.¹³

In launching the new venture, CRF faced two related problems, among oth-

ers. First, and most obviously, no one knew about the station. Second, FM

radio was a little-known and rarely owned commodity. Well before the sta-

tion took to the air, CRF enlisted a small army of volunteers who traveled

throughout the region waging a campaign to extol the virtues (and financial

needs) of WCRF and FM radio. Early in 1958, they began a radio procure-

ment program through which they purchased receivers directly from manufac-

turers and made them available at discounted prices to potential WCRF listen-

ers.¹⁴ They also put together and distributed flyers that asked, "What is FM?

Do You Have an FM receiver?" These flyers provided technical information

about FM's superiority over AM, as well as details on how FM sets could be

obtained through CRF.¹⁵

On November 23, 1958, WCRF transmitted its first broadcast. Its 21,000

watt signal reached beyond a 100 mile radius, and as early as January of 1959

elicited listener responses from western Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and

Ontario.¹⁶ At first, the station broadcasted only eight hours a day, Monday

through Saturday (1:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M.), and twelve hours on Sunday

(9:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M.). By 1972, the broadcast day had increased to six-

teen hours. WCRF offered a variety of daily programs featuring music,

preaching, drama, Bible teaching, and specials for children, along with hourly

reports of news and weather. About half of all programs were produced in

WCRF's studio, and the rest were either purchased via national syndication or

distributed directly from MBI.¹⁷

WCRF appeared on Cleveland's airwaves as its first all-religious radio sta-

tion.¹⁸ At that time, the region's conservative Protestants, such as members

 

 

13. Harry McKee, interview, 3 March 1995, Aurora, Ohio; Frank Carter, interview, 25

February 1995, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; "Christian Radio Fellowship Meeting Minutes," 8 March

1958.

14. "Christian Radio Fellowship Meeting Minutes," 15 September 1958.

15. "What is FM?" Pamphlet produced for distribution by [Christian Radio Fellowship];

Cleveland Plain Dealer, December 21, 1958.

16. Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 23, 1958; "Christian Radio Fellowship Meeting

Minutes," 19 January 1959.

17. Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 1, 1958.

18. David Eshelman, "A Survey of American Religious Radio Broadcast Stations,"

(unpublished M.S. thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1960), 6.

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176                                                              OHIO HISTORY

 

of Christian Radio Fellowship, perceived northeast Ohio as generally inhos-

pitable toward their religious beliefs. To them, the evangelical voice seemed

weak and fragile amid a tremendous diversity of beliefs and traditions. In their

endeavor to attract others to the evangelical faith, these conservatives felt sti-

fled within a "graveyard of evangelism." But this writer contends that evan-

gelicalism in northeast Ohio was not dead but merely fragmented and suffer-

ing from a lack of self-identity. The historical value of WCRF is to be

found, at least partially, in counteracting this condition.

 

The Rise of Evangelicalism and the Role of Radio

in Creating Movement Solidarity

 

A major theme in twentieth-century American religion has been the revival

of evangelical piety since World War II.¹⁹ After losing control of and retreat-

ing from mainline Protestant denominations in the twenties and thirties,

evangelicals gradually redefined their place in American life. Evangelicalism

reconstituted itself in the form of a grassroots religious movement outside the

pale of denominational boundaries and authority.²⁰ As the edifice of mainline

Protestantism began to crumble in the 1960s, the previously spurned evangel-

ical camp emerged as a powerful, socially adjusted force in American culture.

 

 

 

 

 

19. Defining the term "evangelical" has become one of the most muddled enterprises in

American religious historiography. Donald Dayton has argued that no coherent essence has

ever united those identifying themselves as evangelicals in America. He has even called for a

"moratorium on the use of the term" ("Some Doubts About the Category 'Evangelical'," in The

Variety of American Evangelicalism, (Downers Grove, Ill., 1991), 251. Admittedly, those who

describe themselves as such have held a broad spectrum of theological views. But, this is no

reason to dispense with the term. Its theological diversity should merely be understood as part

of its definition. Even so, the term remains doctrinally relevant because a core of belief-al-

beit a small one-has existed among all churches and individuals calling themselves evangeli-

cal. Evangelicals have been, and continue to be, united by a common belief in the authority of

the Bible, the need for personal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, and an emphasis on

evangelism. One would be hard-pressed to find many self-avowed evangelicals who disavow

even one of these broad propositions.

20. In "Fundamentalist Institutions and the Rise of Evangelical Protestantism, 1929-1942,"

Church History, 49 (March, 1980), 65, Joel Carpenter lays to rest the long-held assumption that

fundamentalism and evangelicalism sank into years of decline after the 1920s. He shows that

this was a period of numerical strength, though one during which evangelicals participated

neither within old mainline denominations nor mainstream culture. See also James Davison

Hunter, American Evangelicalism (New Brunswick N.J., 1983), 44. By the late 1950s, evan-

gelicalism continued to grow while it also began to regain a measure of cultural acceptance.

See George Marsden, "Evangelicalism Since 1930: Unity and Diversity," in Understanding

Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism ed. George Marsden (Grand Rapids, Mich., 1991), 69;

Joel Carpenter, "The Renewal of American Fundamentalism," (unpublished Ph.D. diss., Johns

Hopkins University, 1984), 35; A. Roy Eckardt, The Surge of Piety in America (New York,

1958); Martin Marty, The New Shape of American Religion (New York, 1959).

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"Nothing to Advertise Except God"                                          177

 

Into the void created by the demise of Protestant liberalism moved this newly

invigorated conservative force.²¹

Evangelicalism by the 1960s well fit Luther Gerlach and Virginia Hine's

sociological definition of a movement. It constituted a group of people

"organized for, ideologically motivated by, and committed to a purpose which

implements some form of personal or social change" (defined by the basic

tenets of evangelical theology). Evangelicals promoted active "recruitment"

as the key to their growth (evangelism), and stood in self-conscious opposi-

tion to the "established order" (mainline Protestantism) from which they em-

nated.²²   Most importantly for better understanding radio's function within

it, evangelicalism conformed to the Gerlach and Hine model in its structural

organization: a decentralized, segmented network loosely conjoined by

"various personal, structural, and ideological ties."²³ The evangelical subcul-

ture amounted to a diverse web of loosely connected colleges, Bible schools,

parachurch organizations, and smaller denominations.²⁴

Christian radio became part of the evangelical subculture during the

movement's earliest phase. It grew right alongside the explosive rise of radio

in the general culture during the twenties and thirties.²⁵ By the time WCRF

entered the orbit of northeast Ohio's religious life in the late 1950s, not only

was the function of evangelicalism within society changing, but so too were

the roles played by the vectors of its subcultural infrastructure.     Because

evangelicalism lacked a centralized apparatus of leadership, various Christian

media worked to unite its many disparate elements.²⁶ Religious dissonance

 

 

 

 

21. Leonard I. Sweet, "The 1960s: The Crisis of Liberal Christianity and the Public

Emergence of Evangelicalism," in Evangelicalism and Modern America, ed. George Marsden

(Grand Rapids, Mich., 1985), 31-32; George Marsden, "Preachers of Paradox: Fundamentalist

Politics in Historical Perspective," in Understanding Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism ed.

George Marsden (Grand Rapids, Mich., 1991), 103-04; Grant Wacker, "Searching for

Norman Rockwell: Popular Evangelicalism in Contemporary Culture, " in The Evangelical

Tradition in America; and Leonard Sweet, ed. (Macon, Ga., 1982), 293. Sociologists Roger

Finke and Rodney Stark have recently impugned those who look to the 1960s and 1970s as a

period of sudden or radical change. They prefer the long view of history, seeing most current

and historical trends in American religion as part of a grand but steady process. See their The

Churching of America, 1776-1990: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy (New

Brunswick, N.J., 1992), 245-49.

22. Luther P. Gerlach and Virginia H. Hine, People, Power, Change: Movements of Social

Transformation (Indianapolis, 1970), xvi.

23. Ibid., xvii.

24. Joel Carpenter has shown the importance of this subcultural arrangement in the preser-

vation of a fundamentalist identity through the thirties and forties in his "Fundamentalist

Institutions," 62-75; See also "From Fundamentalism to the New Evangelical Coalition," in

Evangelicalism and Modern America ed. George Marsden (Grand Rapids, Mich., 1984), 3-16.

25. Schultz, "Evangelical Radio," 289-306.

26. An example of this within evangelicalism's intellectual segment was the emergence of

the periodical Christianity Today in 1956. An evangelical alternative to the liberal, mainline

Christian Century, it was designed to theologically undergird and unite evangelical pastors. See

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178                                                            OHIO HISTORY

 

and an absence of evangelical solidarity were apparent features of northeast

Ohio. The balance of this paper will demonstrate several ways that WCRF

assisted in redefining the religious in the greater Cleveland area.²⁷

Agent of Evangelical Identity

 

First, WCRF encouraged evangelical solidarity by promulgating a spirit of

local and translocal evangelical identity.²⁸ The idea of Christianity as a uni-

versal "community of faith" is one of the religion's central tenets. Some ob-

servers of religious radio have harshly criticized the medium's tendency to ob-

scure this part of the Christian tradition.²⁹    Radio, by design, conveys

Christian worship, Bible studies, and other programs in an exceedingly priva-

tized manner, thus detracting from any sense of real community. This admo-

nition, albeit partially valid, fails to recognize that radio's momentary private

encounter is hardly the only way the medium connects with its recipients.

Radio-like all media-has also the potential of transcending mere reclusion

by pointing listeners to worlds beyond their own.

As will be shown, WCRF addressed and often alleviated feelings of spiri-

tual isolation by providing immediate fellowship. Aside from direct interac-

tion, it also dispelled spiritual isolation by helping listeners gain greater

awareness of other like-minded Christians, both locally and in the world at-

large. A solidarity among evangelicals was nurtured as its listeners developed

a trenchant self-identification with, and an active participation within, a ubiq-

uitous evangelical community.

WCRF took special care to develop strong ties with local evangelical

churches. As Gerlach and Hine show, such efforts administered according to

"pre-existing social relationships" are keys to stimulating movement

growth.³⁰ Station associates guarded against the impression that they were

 

 

Eric Miller, "Carl F.H. Henry and Christianity Today: Responding to the Crisis of the West,

1956-1968," (unpublished M.A. thesis, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1994).

27. Although I will argue that WCRF played a key role in creating evangelical unity in

Cleveland, it is important to note that "mobilization" was not necessarily one of WCRF's fun-

damental goals. Rather, as former staff member Ruth Dinwiddie has said, it was "one of the

wonderful byproducts of it." Phone interview, 6 March 1995, Kent, Ohio / St. Petersburg,

Florida.

28. In discussing various dynamics of Pat Robertson's 700 Club, Stewart Hoover makes sev-

eral observations parallel to those found in this section (Mass Media Religion, 206-16). My use

of the terms "localism" and "translocalism" have come, in part, from his highly nuanced anal-

ysis of the religious media.

29. William Martin, "Perspectives on the Electric Church." In Varieties of Southern Religious

Experience, ed Sam Hill. (Baton Rouge, 1988), 182; Eskridge, "Evangelical Broadcasting,"

134; Robert Wuthnow notes this "paradox" of media. He reprimands the religious media for its

"privatization of faith," but concedes its function of reinforcing the "role of religion in the

public sphere." See his The Struggle for America's Soul: Evangelicals, Liberals, and Secularism

(Grand Rapids, Mich., 1989), 121.

30. Gerlach and Hine, People, Power, Change, 82.

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"Nothing to Advertise Except God"                            179

somehow competing with area congregations. "We are no substitute for your church," insisted CRF member James Dalton, "but we will try to help you and your church become stronger."31          Moreover, employees of WCRF viewed themselves as "assistant pastors through the week," hoping to under- gird local churches rather than detracting from them.32     The daily program "Bread of Life" provides a good example of their collaborative effort. It fea- tured a different evangelical pastor each week delivering a series of five ser- mons over the air. "Bread of Life" helped to bring greater awareness and unity to local evangelical churches, while conferring a kind of "celebrity" status on their pastors.33 Beyond its work among actual churches, WCRF came to function as a "crossroads" of evangelicalism for thousands of disparate conservative     31. Noel Wical, "Nothing to Advertise But GOD," Sohioan (December, 1959), 16-17; "As a Pastor I never feel that it is a competitive ministry, but rather a complimentary [sic.] one to our own work locally. Many of our people tell me of specific blessings gleaned from listening to their favorite programs." (John J. Auringer, Pastor Valley View Village Church, Cleveland, to WCRF, 11 January 1967). 32. J. Richard Florence, phone interview, 1 March 1995, Ravenna, Ohio / St. Petersburg, Florida. 33. Pastor Henry Schumacher, Missionary Baptist Church, Parma, Ohio, to WCRF, 26 May 1971. Schumacher joked about having received "fan mail" after appearing on "Bread of Life."

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180                                                      OHIO HISTORY

 

Protestants. Considering radio's unique capacity for direct and near pervasive

communication, its potential role as an evangelical clearinghouse was soon

recognized. Numerous groups clamored to have their events and activities

transmitted over WCRF's signal.³⁴ The station frequently received requests

from groups like the "Lorain County Youth Crusade" who, in light of the

perceived "millions of people [WCRF reached] daily," asked to have their

evangelistic meetings broadcast "live."³⁵ Others like the Willo-Hill Baptist

Church choir planned to present a "live performance" of their Easter cantata

from WCRF's studio.³⁶ For practical reasons alone, the station could not ac-

commodate most requests like these. In denying Willo-Hill's petition, Dick

Florence lamented that there were "literally scores of good, sound Churches in

our area who would like to make a similar request."³⁷ Though some were

granted airtime, WCRF usually promoted evangelical interests in northeast

Ohio in a less involved, still highly effective way.

In 1961, then-station manager Brandt Gustavson increased WCRF's local

thrust by adding more information-based programs to its schedule. He intro-

duced a series appropriately titled "At Your Service" that included two sched-

ule additions designed to make listeners aware of local evangelical events, as

well as to help them better understand their place in the broader "community

of faith." The first one called "Christian Activities" publicized hundreds of

area Christian events, such as conferences, special meetings, outings, con-

certs, worship services, and ministry opportunities to which active participa-

tion among listeners was encouraged.³⁸ The other, "Religion in the News,"

informed listeners of "happenings on the local, national, and world scenes" of

relevance to evangelical Christians. According to former staff member Ruth

Dinwiddie, these programs-along with others-created a new awareness of

conservative Protestantism in the region, furnishing evangelical listeners with

a "sense that they were not so alone."³⁹

Additionally, WCRF offered its listeners a greater cognizance of evangeli-

calism as an international movement. MBI, WCRF's owner and operator,

was internationally known as one of the leading missionary producing

schools in the world.⁴⁰   Its commitment to send the Christian message

around the globe was reflected in WCRF's program schedule, including

 

 

34. Harry McKee, interview, 3 March 1995, Aurora, Ohio.

35. John Corts, Chairman, "Lorain County Youth Crusade," Amhearst, Ohio, to WCRF, 10

August 1968.

36. Paul R. Beresford, Choir Director, Willo-Hill Baptist Church, Willoughby, Ohio, to

WCRF, 6 November 1970.

37. J. Richard Florence to Mr. Paul Beresford, Choir Director, Willo-Hill Baptist Church,

Willoughby, Ohio, 18 November 1970.

38. WCRF-FM Guide (July-September 1961).

39. Ruth Dinwiddie, phone interview, 6 March 1995, Kent, Ohio / St. Petersburg, Florida.

40. Gene Getz, "Moody Bible Institute," Dictionary of Christianity in America (Downers

Grove, Ill., 1989), 769.

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"Nothing to Advertise Except God"                                  181

 

"Christianity in Red China," "Missionary Interview," and "Letter from

Africa," which gave first-hand accounts of evangelical Christians from within

cross-cultural settings.⁴¹ In 1972, WCRF set aside a special day to focus on

world evangelism called "Missions Day." The audience heard segments of

missions' music, panel discussions, missionary drama productions, and inter-

views with missionaries. Through the program, station associates hoped to

encourage northeast Ohio evangelicals to think about their faith in terms of

world evangelism. Listeners were alerted that, "It just might change your

whole world view."⁴²

This assertion far from overstated the case in several instances where listen-

ers responded to WCRF's emphasis on world Christianity in an ultimate way.

Station announcer Bob Devine recalls numerous families from northeast Ohio

who, by direct influence from WCRF, vacated their homes and careers to

serve as missionaries in remote parts of the world.⁴³  In 1967, Mrs. James

Young of Sterling, Ohio, wrote to WCRF shortly before she and her family

moved to southern Mexico for "pioneer training with Wycliffe Bible

Translators." "It was through WCRF," noted Mrs. Young, "that we heard

about Wycliffe and decided to write them and apply for service."⁴⁴

Perhaps an even better illustration of how WCRF promoted evangelical

identity is what station employees and associates did off the air. As men-

tioned above, CRF made extensive personal appeals to local groups as an ini-

tial way to raise funding and to develop a station listenership.⁴⁵  WCRF's

perpetual dependence on local support-financial and otherwise-necessitated

that the practice of personal involvement with the community continue

through the years. This was accomplished primarily through hundreds of lo-

cal meetings called "radio rallies." At least once a month-sometimes more

often-WCRF's staff went out into regional churches to sing, play instru-

ments, and preach.⁴⁶

As local "celebrities" themselves, station employees made additional indi-

vidual appearances before various groups throughout the region. In 1963

alone, Brandt Gustavson spoke to over 100 groups, apart from the twenty-one

radio rallies he conducted with his staff.⁴⁷ These meetings and rallies served

as public relations forums during which local people could more closely asso-

ciate with the station, its personalities, and other fellow listeners. Within

 

 

41. WCRF-FM Guide (October-December, 1969).

42. WCRF-FM Guide (October-December, 1972).

43. Bob Devine, interview, 27 February 1995, Brecksville, Ohio.

44. Mrs. James Young, Sterling, Ohio, to WCRF, 11 January 1967.

45. Harry McKee, interview, 3 March 1995, Aurora, Ohio.

46. Radio rallies usually included an evangelistic program for children led by the station's

morning host, "Uncle Bob" Devine. Bob Devine, interview, 27 February 1995, Brecksville,

Ohio.

47. Brandt Gustavson, "¹⁹⁶³ Annual Report," "WCRF General Files," WCRF Radio Station,

Brecksville, Ohio.

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182                                             OHIO HISTORY

each gathering, WCRF attracted a microcosm of northeast Ohio's evangelical coalition and in so doing undergirded within it a greater sense of group iden- tity. They similarly accomplished engagement with the community at an even more personal level. In 1961, MBI hired a special Cleveland representative named Frank Carter, whose job was to traverse northeast Ohio paying personal visits to WCRF's financial supporters. By 1965, Carter was making an average of 2,000 face- to-face contacts a year!48 The main reason for these visits was to seek addi-     48. "Christian Radio Fellowship Meeting Minutes," 27 February 1966.

• 12
 

"Nothing to Advertise Except God"                                   183

 

tional contributions such as deferred gifts, annuities, and trusts. But he also

accomplished something more. Through these visits, Carter attached a face

and a genuinely human touch to WCRF for the many who would otherwise

only engage the evangelical world via radio waves. These contacts-always

done in person-took on the quality of pastoral visits. During each one,

Carter took some time getting to know his hosts, offered them "spiritual

counseling," read a passage of Scripture, and spent a few moments praying

with them.⁴⁹ As a former minister himself, Carter regarded northeast Ohio

as his "parish," while many of those he visited considered him their pastor.⁵⁰

Thus, in ways both on and off the air, WCRF helped to inspire and magnify a

collective self-awareness among area evangelicals.

 

Architect of Evangelical Balance

 

Second, WCRF worked to promote evangelical unity in northeast Ohio by

maintaining a delicate balance between its highly conservative theological

convictions and  s conciliatory social and ecclesial demeanor.  MBI and

WCRF, by association, stood within a long tradition of carefully defined con-

servative Protestantism.⁵¹  The school would have disavowed many of the

theological positions within, what Timothy Smith calls, the "evangelical

kaleidoscope."⁵²  However, all evangelicals found common agreement on

three crucial points: (1) the Bible as the final authority for faith and practice,

(2) salvation as coming solely through faith in Jesus Christ, and (3) evange-

lism as mandated for every Christian. Through soundly embracing these

commonalities of the evangelical faith, while soft-pedaling areas of con-

tention and division, WCRF successfully erected a "big tent" for evangelical

believers.

From its inception, WCRF consciously identified itself with the "right-

wing" of evangelicalism. The station motto, "Dedicated wholly to the service

of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," suggests the degree of its stringency.

Though it disowned the label "fundamentalist," the station remained strictly

committed to the historic "fundamentals" of Christianity. Employees were

required to sign a four-point statement of faith attesting to their commitment

 

 

49. WCRF-FM Guide (October-December, 1963).

50. Frank Carter, interview, 25 February 1995, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Numerous letters to

WCRF attest to the importance of this personal contact. For example, "Another phase of your

ministry which we look forward to is the annual visit of Mr. Frank Carter. It is a real blessing

to share this time of real Christian Fellowship with him. The Rileys, Broadview Heights, Ohio,

to WCRF, 9 January 1967.

51. George Marsden, "Fundamentalism and American Evangelicalism," The Variety of

American Evangelicalism (Downers Grove, Ill., 1989), 31.

52. Timothy Smith, "The Evangelical Kaleidoscope and the Call to Christian Unity,"

Christian Scholar's Review, 14 (Spring, 1986), 115-43.

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184                                                            OHIO HISTORY

 

to these distinctives.⁵³ Likewise, CRF members drafted a nine-point state-

ment of evangelical belief that, according to their constitution, "governed" all

group activities.⁵⁴

During the 1960s, WCRF transmitted an unmistakably conservative theol-

ogy over its airwaves. A contemporary observer of American religion and its

mass media held that presentations of this sort clashed with the pluralism of

American Christianity, labelling them "sectarian and divisive."⁵⁵ Many sta-

tions, indeed, used their radio voices to celebrate an uncompromising rigidity

and to castigate all "heretics" and others who were thought to have

"compromised" on the fundamentals of the Christian Faith. But WCRF, per-

haps no less theologically stern, tolerated no malevolent language in any of

its programming.

The station's management enforced a tenor of "civility" in all station broad-

casts. Any word or statement that could possibly be construed as "offensive"

was prohibited.⁵⁶ The radio department of MBI drafted a "Speaker's Policy

Statement" that WCRF issued to all guest speakers and radio announcers. It

required speakers to refrain "from making derogatory remarks about individu-

als, groups or other religions," and "from making statements that can be la-

beled 'abusive' from the viewpoint of Roman Catholicism, Christian

Science, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc."⁵⁷ The statement made clear that this pol-

icy applied also to other evangelical groups with whom disagreements ex-

isted.

WCRF promised swift action against any violation of the station guide-

lines on abusive language. Speakers who used expressly forbidden language

were immediately interrupted with the following announcement: "Any re-

 

 

53. J. Richard Florence, phone interview, 1 March 1995, Ravenna, Ohio / St. Petersburg,

Florida.

54. The Fundamentals was a twelve-volume series published between 1910 and 1915. The

set contained essays that claimed to encompass the essential points of Protestant orthodoxy. All

those who accepted these interpretations as true became known as fundamentalists, George

Marsden, "The Fundamentals" in The Dictionary of Christianity in America eds. Daniel G.

Reid, et al (Downers Grove, Ill., 1990), 468. Although MBI's theology conformed to the doc-

trines in these essays, the connotations associated with the term "fundamentalist" caused them

to resist accepting ownership of the label. See "Doctrinal Statement," (adopted at annual

meeting of the Board of Trustees, Moody Bible Institute, October, 1928), in Here We Stand

(Chicago, n.d.); "Christian Radio Fellowship Constitution"; Cleveland Plain Dealer, November

23, 1958.

55. Martin Marty, The Improper Opinion: Mass Media and the Christian Faith (Philadelphia,

1961), 83-84.

56. The Akron Beacon Journal, August 15, 1959; J. Richard Florence, phone interview, 1

March 1995, Ravenna, Ohio / St. Petersburg, Florida.

57. "Speakers Policy Statement," [no date], "WCRF General Files," WCRF Radio Station,

Brecksville, Ohio. Although the statement made mention of "FCC Regulations" as a reason for

compliance, there is evidence to suggest that compliance to these was not the only factor. Dick

Florence contends that they were trying to prove that "Christians could be conservative on the

air and yet non-offensive." See J. Richard Florence, phone interview, 1 March 1995,

Ravenna, Ohio / St. Petersburg, Florida; Also see Akron Beacon Journal, August 15, 1959.

• 14
 

"Nothing to Advertise Except God"                                    185

 

marks of a derogatory nature made by the speaker were in violation of this

station's policy and practice. We sincerely apologize to any in our audience

who may have been offended by such remarks."⁵⁸ Through the policy,

WCRF hoped to create an atmosphere in which a plurality of religious groups

would feel welcome and free from castigation. While remaining dogmatically

committed to its message, the station aspired to package it in a socially pleas-

ing manner.

WCRF developed a reputation for its "soothing" and "evenly paced" format,

and was regarded as a station that "urges its listeners to attend church and gen-

tly guides them to God."⁵⁹ One man, taking notice of its congenial temper,

applauded the "down-to-earth attitude of [its] announcers like Dick Florence

and Bob Devine. . . . The timely comments made for the benefit of both

saved and unsaved seem to be spoken just as if they were sitting in the room

with a friend."⁶⁰ As a former WCRF staff member recalled, evangelicals in

northeast Ohio were "thrilled" to have a "biblical ministry. .. presented with

sanity, love, friendliness, and openness."⁶¹

On a practical level, the station's amicable mannerism was prompted, in

part, by the station's financial dependence. WCRF, as a "venture of faith,"

relied completely on listener support and desperately needed to create and sus-

tain a broad base of financial patronage. Station associates were profoundly

aware that the ministry could only exist "as concerned Christians [gave] to the

continuance of the operation."⁶² In the interest of self-preservation, a fairly

diverse evangelical coalition had to be discovered and, in a sense, catered to.

WCRF had little choice but to become sensitive toward anything that might

unduly offend current and potential donors.

However, the station also confronted the countervailing danger of becoming

too inclusive. The attempt to create a "big evangelical tent" while preserving

its own basic values was a tenuous and sometimes risky endeavor. Letters

like one from a woman in South Euclid reinforced the need for WCRF to stay

within its rigid framework of theological conservatism.   "I did support

WCRF regularly, however, approximately two years ago I stopped.... I felt

that I should support an organization that took a stand positively against neo-

evangelicalism."⁶³ For the listener, some programs were showing signs of a

 

 

58. "Speakers Policy Statement."

59. Akron Beacon Journal, July 15, 1959.

60. Harold Kay, Cleveland, Ohio, to WCRF, 10 January 1965.

61. Ruth Dinwiddie, phone interview, 6 March 1995, Kent, Ohio / St. Petersburg, Florida.

62. Brandt Gustavson, WCRF-FM Guide (July-September, 1961).

63. Neo-evangelicalism comprised those in the evangelical camp who consciously dissoci-

ated themselves from fundamentalists in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Some of its "dangers" are de-

scribed in Robert P. Lightner's Neo-Evangelicalism (Findlay, Ohio, 1962). These include an

unrealistic optimism, doctrinal neglect, replacement of faith for knowledge, a drift toward a

socialization of the Gospel, and most importantly, "alignment with evil systems," 115-43.

Because of MBI's desire to maintain a centrist stance, it avoided all such labels.

• 15
 

186                                                         OHIO HISTORY

 

liberal drift that she, in good conscience, could no longer support.   Her

confidence in WCRF was not restored until she heard firsthand that the station

intended to "stay conservative." Upon receipt of this news, she resumed her

regular contributions.⁶⁴

On issues of contention within the evangelical camp, WCRF displayed rare

skill in navigating sometimes perilous waters. As an example, the ministry

of Billy Graham represented a point of sharp dispute within evangelicalism af-

ter 1957. Graham had emerged from an undiluted fundamentalist background

in the South to become easily the most famous Protestant of the twentieth

century. By the 1960s, he had spoken face-to-face to perhaps more people

about Christianity than anyone in history, yet never once wavered from his

simple message.⁶⁵ However, during a 1957 "crusade" in New York City,

Graham had invited numerous leaders from "liberal" churches to join him in

organizing and sponsoring the campaign.        His apparent pandering to

"modernism" provoked deep resentment among many conservatives. After the

New York incident, the repudiation of Graham's ministry (and all who sup-

ported it) became a litmus test for true fundamentalists.⁶⁶

Understandably, WCRF faced a dilemma when the Billy Graham

Association planned a ten-day crusade in July of 1972 at Cleveland Stadium.

As the region's most pervasive evangelical voice, one might have expected

the station to immerse itself in planning and promoting the big event.

However, WCRF remained tentative, and even reluctant to associate too

closely with the Graham ministry.⁶⁷ Since a large portion of station support

came from fundamentalists who flatly repudiated Graham, a backlash against

any such advocacy was feared. The station resolved the matter by steering a

middle course. In private it gave full support to the crusade, but publicly

agreed to discuss it only as a news story.⁶⁸     The one change made in

WCRF's schedule relative to Billy Graham's ministry was a program de

 

 

 

64. [Name withheld by author], South Euclid, to WCRF, 7 March 1972. (In cases where a

person's privacy might be breached, the author has withheld personal names.)

65. John Woodbridge, "William (Billy) Frank Graham," in The Dictionary of Christianity in

America (Downers Grove, Ill., 1989), 491-92.

66.  Ernest Pickering, Should Fundamentalists Support the Billy Graham  Crusades?

(Minneapolis, n.d.).

67. Clarence Agard, Chairman of Graham Crusade Invitational Committee, Lyndhurst, Ohio,

to WCRF, 7 August 1970. This was a general mailing that invited Christian leaders from north-

east Ohio to attend a promotional meeting for the Graham Crusade. On WCRF's copy, station

manager Dick Florence wrote a hand-written note to Brandt Gustavson asking "Should I at-

tend?" to which Gustavson responded, "I think it wouldn't harm. Go Ahead." This illustrates

the sensitive nature of the Graham issue at WCRF.

68. Harry McKee, interview, 3 March 1995, Aurora, Ohio; William Culbertson, President of

Moody Bible Institute, to Moody supporters, 1 March 1971, "Billy Graham Crusade File,"

WCRF Radio Station, Brecksville, Ohio. Culbertson wrote this letter to define MBI's position

on a 1971 Chicago Crusade. It is a prime example of Moody's endeavor to appease both sides

by neither endorsing nor embracing Graham's efforts.

• 16
 

"Nothing to Advertise Except God"                                187

 

signed to help recent converts called "New Life in Christ." Those associated

with the station in the sixties and seventies largely agree that the times called

for such measures. In order to create, preserve, and perpetuate an evangelical

coalition in northeast Ohio, a carefully designed balance was essential.⁶⁹

Reservoir of Personal and Social Reconciliation

 

Finally, WCRF helped consolidate evangelicals in northeast Ohio by pro-

viding responses to problems of the human condition that proved satisfactory

to many in its listening audience. Various northeast Ohioans came to see

WCRF as an intimately personal and sometimes therapeutic voice of fellow-

ship, crisis management, and ultimate meaning. Peter Clecak well articulates

the sense of fragmentation and isolation harbored by much of America during

the 1960s and 1970s. In his estimation, American civilization was at that

time dominated by a "quest for personal fulfillment within a small commu-

nity (or several communities) of significant others."⁷⁰  Many of those who

turned to WCRF during these years keenly illustrate one dimension of

America's quest.

For the elderly, the disabled, and those living alone, radios and televisions

can serve as surrogate spouses, friends, and co-workers. Electronic mass me-

dia often function as feeble substitutes for universally craved human contact

and social interaction. When religion with a promise of "meaning" is adapted

to these mediums, they sometimes act as electronically generated lifelines to

those trapped in their otherwise lonely worlds. As numerous listener letters

attest, WCRF served in this capacity for many.

One listener confided that 1966 had been a most difficult year: "[M]y hus-

band passed away and I had many problems other than my personal grief."

Yet, she reported that WCRF, in large measure, had helped her to overcome

her many struggles: "[W]hen I am home your station is on constantly and it

is such a comfort."⁷¹ She even quipped that it interfered with housework be-

cause she refused to turn it off, even to run her sweeper! Another woman liv-

ing with her elderly husband expressed gratitude that WCRF had addressed the

unique needs of senior citizens cut off from an active world. "We feel all at

WCRF are our very good friends, and such a comfort to us in these days. I

can always rely on WCRF to bring cheer and true spiritual comfort no matter

what the circumstances."⁷²

For others, social isolation manifested itself in more explicitly spiritual

terms.   The biblical concept of "fellowship"-the joining together of

 

 

69. Dick Florence, "¹⁹⁷² Annual Report," WCRF Radio Station, Brecksville, Ohio.

70. Clecak, America's Quest for the Ideal Self: Dissent and Fulfillment in the 60s and 70s

(New York, 1983), 9, 24-25.

71. [Name withheld by author], Cleveland, to WCRF, [no day] January 1967.

72. [Name withheld by author], [no address], to WCRF, 24 July 1969.

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188                                                         OHIO HISTORY

 

Christians to share their common life of faith and practice-had been histori-

cally achieved in the context of local gatherings called churches. For numer-

ous reasons, a host of northeast Ohioans expressed a deficiency of Christian

interaction and began looking to WCRF to find it. In the midst of these cir-

cumstances, WCRF was conceived of as an instrument of Christian fellow-

ship. The first words delivered on its inaugural broadcast in 1958 reveal this:

"We welcome you to the fellowship of WCRF-FM, the Good News Station

in Cleveland! It is our earnest prayer that our association will be a long and

fruitful one" (emphasis added).⁷³ It quickly became an emblematic source of

Christian interaction for those who yearned for, but seemed wholly secluded

from, the "real thing."

According to former station manager Dick Florence, a lot of WCRF listen-

ers were "held captive" in old-line "liberal" churches that provided little or no

"real" fellowship.⁷⁴ This was the case for one listener who described dramatic

changes in her spiritual outlook after receiving an FM radio for Christmas.

 

 

Since then you [WCRF] have been my constant companion from 7AM till bedtime

every day. Your programs have all been a constant source of blessing to me ... I

say this in all sincerity as the church I attend does not fed [sic.] the soul at all. It

is a very liberal church and causes me much concern. My husband will not con-

sider changing and after much prayer and reading the Bible - God's Word - He

[God?] told me to stay.⁷⁵

 

A younger listener named Bill, whose parents did not allow him to attend the

"church of [his] choice," found the program  "Bread of Life" the next best

thing. For many, WCRF provided their only source of fellowship with like-

minded Christians, if only symbolically. Although it was not intended as a

substitute for local churches, it many times became just that.⁷⁶

A more dramatic source of social stratification-to which WCRF offered re-

lief-were experiences of sincere personal crisis. As mentioned, there were

times when WCRF acted in lieu of spouses and close friends. But in matters

of profound crisis, it also assumed the guise of therapist. One Cleveland

woman admitted that "After my husband's brutal murder, I felt bitterness

creeping in, which I realized no real Christian could tolerate." After a friend

 

 

73. "Program Format Sheet," 23 November 1958 (inaugural broadcast - 3:01 P.M.) "WCRF

General Files," WCRF Radio Station, Brecksville, Ohio.

74. J. Richard Florence, interview, 1 March, 1995, Ravenna, Ohio / St. Petersburg, Florida.

75. [Name withheld by author], Mogadore, Ohio, to WCRF, 4 January 1965.

76. Bill [last name withheld by author], University Heights, Ohio, to WCRF, 15 January 1962.

In a discussion about televangelism, Robert Wuthnow argues for its divisive nature, driving a

wedge "between the morally concerned Religious Right and those among the secular elite."

See The Struggle for America's Soul (Grand Rapids, Mich., 1990), 140. A corollary to this,

however, has been the medium's role in unifying those on the conservative side of this

chasm-a point in support of this paper's basic thesis.

• 18
 

"Nothing to Advertise Except God"                               189

suggested that she listen to WCRF, she attested that the station's "inspiring programs," along with prayer, had helped to overcome her feelings of deep an- imosity.77 In another case, a listener clung to her FM receiver with an even greater solemnity. I listen to your program every day to give me strength to carry on. About 3 weeks ago I tried to end my life by taking an overdose of pills. While in the hospital, I realized I didn't want to die.... One day I turned the radio on and heard you reading a letter from a listener with a problem such as mine. I know God must've wanted me to hear it because I'd never turned to this station ever before.78   According to Stewart Hoover, people such as this listener were seeking emotional refuge in second-order venues like radio and television because modem society had undermined "the traditional base of consciousness in local community."79 As lives spun out of control within "postindustrial society," people desperately groped for ways to put the pieces back together. Hoover argues that the media served to transmit "cultural systems" within which the     77. [Name withheld by author], Cleveland, to WCRF, 30 October 1971. 78. [Name withheld by author], North Madison, Ohio, to WCRF, [no day] September 1972. 79. Mass Media Religion, 24-26.

• 19
 

190                                                      OHIO HISTORY

 

problems of life were assessed and its recipients transformed. An alluring

"cultural system" during this era emphasized traditional and conservative

mores of days past.

Dean Kelley offers a compelling interpretation of why evangelical piety

made its remarkable comeback in the years following World War II. In Why

Conservative Churches are Growing (1972), he argues that Americans increas-

ingly embraced evangelical-type groups primarily because they offered

"meaning." Clearly stated and fully explained answers to life's most impor-

tant questions have "historically and repeatedly proven to be the remedy for

severe disorganization of persons and groups."⁸⁰  While liberal churches of-

fered merely pliant beliefs, "bandied back and forth like verbal playthings,"

conservative churches, according to Kelley, advanced intelligible and confident

strategies that people used to bring order to their lives.⁸¹

The foundation of WCRF's solutions for social isolation and personal cri-

sis lay in its articulation of an unambiguous system of ultimate meaning. In

an anonymous letter to WCRF, an anxiety-ridden "young lady listener" con-

fessed that her life had no meaning: "For a long time there has been an aching

void in my heart and life that human friendship could not satisfy and a real

need that natural means cannot meet." A program on WCRF provoked her to

write, "I am in desperate need of help in spite of having lead [sic] a morally

clean life."⁸² WCRF responded to such petitions with clear, unequivocal an-

swers.

The task of evangelism-spreading the Gospel message to those who have

not accepted it-has historically been the "linchpin of the evangelical world-

view.^"83 It was, likewise, the raison d'etre of WCRF. Just as station associ-

ates ascribed their own structures of "ultimate meaning" to a personal faith in

"the atoning blood of Christ," they believed that faith in Jesus was necessary

for all people. WCRF's essential philosophy, succinctly stated by radio pas-

tor Robert J. Little, affirmed that

 

The only truly useful life is one lived in obedience to the will of God, and such a

life starts with a personal dealing with God about our sins ... Then as we obey the

instructions of God's Word, and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit ... we find

that God shapes our affairs, and gives purpose and value to our lives.⁸⁴

 

Through WCRF, this notion of "ultimate meaning" was repeatedly commu-

nicated to its listeners.

 

 

 

80. Why Conservative Churches are Growing: A Study in Sociology of Religion (New York,

1972), 43

81. Ibid., 52.

82. "A Young Lady Listener," Cleveland, to WCRF, [no date - 1967 Folder].

83. Larry Eskridge, "Evangelical Broadcasting," 131.

84. WCRF-FM Guide (April-June, 1961).

• 20
 

"Nothing to Advertise Except God"                             191

 

A pervading sense of social detachment infused much of American society

during the sixties and seventies. As Clecak has shown, individuals sought to

allay personal and social isolation in numerous, often contradictory, ways.

The return to conservative religion and ultimate values, as the resurgence of

evangelicalism attests, was one dominant response. WCRF not only imbibed

these values that resonated with so many, it transmitted them in a potentially

pervasive manner and, in so doing, helped to renew and revive the evangelical

community in northeast Ohio.

 

Conclusion

 

Thus, radio served to amplify the previously muted voice of conservative

Protestantism within Cleveland's diverse religious matrix, and also built a

transdenominational "big tent" under which an ecumenical evangelical com-

munity joined together. WCRF's message of conservative religion found a

responsive audience during the personal and social dislocation of the 1960s

and beyond. In this historically advantageous setting, the ministry of WCRF

functioned as a genuine creator of northeast Ohio's evangelical subculture.

Common sense dictates that one should not too readily generalize about the

power of Christian radio based on conclusions from a single case study.

Still, the analysis of WCRF unmistakably demonstrates that Christian uses

of media like radio have helped to shape the individual and communal lives of

many ordinary Americans. This present evaluation should at least underscore

the need to conduct further research along these lines. As interdisciplinary

scholarship begins paying greater attention to actual media recipients and

more carefully considers particular geographic and chronological frameworks,

correlations between religious communications and sub-cultural development

may indeed prove decisive.

• 21