Title: Lutheran Vespers Airing on Des Moines' WHO Radio
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 14, 2003

LUTHERAN VESPERS AIRING ON DES MOINES' WHO RADIO
03-049-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Vespers, the radio ministry of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), recently began airing on
WHO-AM, Des Moines, Iowa, one of  31 "clear channel" radio stations in
the United States.  Clear channel stations broadcast their signals
exclusively on their assigned AM frequencies at specific times, enabling
listeners hundreds of miles away to hear its programs.
     WHO can be heard at 1040 on the AM dial.
     Lutheran Vespers (LV) is a weekly 30-minute radio program,
featuring the Rev. Walt Wangerin Jr., as speaker.  The program airs on
235 stations and reaches an estimated 3 million to 4 million listeners a
year in the United States, Africa, Australia, Europe, Guam and Puerto
Rico.  ELCA missionaries also receive copies of the program.
     LV airs on two other clear channel radio stations: WCCO-AM,
Minneapolis; and KSL-AM, Salt Lake City, Utah.
     "We're grateful whenever we add another station to the LV family,"
said Susan V. Greeley, Lutheran Vespers director/producer, ELCA
Department for Communication.  "But a station the size of WHO is a
special blessing because it will reach the entire state of Iowa.  That
gives many more people the opportunity to hear the gospel even if the
program isn't carried by their local radio station."
  The program did not have an affiliate in Des Moines for two years
until it began airing on WHO last December, said Barbara Andrews,
associate director for marketing, ELCA Department for Communication. LV
airs each Sunday morning at 5:30 a.m. on WHO.  For some stations, that
airtime may mean few listeners -- but not on WHO, said Van Harden, WHO
program director and morning co-host.  Because of its strong signal,
"mornings are huge, which is true on weekends as well," he said.
  After the first LV broadcast, the stations got "great feedback,"
Harden said.  Some were first-time listeners, and others had heard of
the program before, he said.
  Wangerin's storytelling ability, combined with good communication
skills, made the program attractive to WHO, Harden said.
  "The program is a perfect fit for us," he said.  "It's a great
program.  He's painting his pictures on a great canvas at WHO.  I hope
it [Lutheran Vespers] is with us for a long time."
     The shared financial support of the ELCA Mission Investment Fund,
Chicago, and the ELCA Southeastern Iowa Synod, Iowa City, has made the
program possible on WHO,  Andrews said.  Several ELCA congregations in
the Des Moines area are likely to add financial support, she said.
     Shared, local financial support is "vital" to LV, because the
ministry does not have the resources to pay for local airtime, Greeley
said.  "We provide the program to stations free of charge, but we need
ministry partners to pay for the time," she added.
     Wangerin's "OutSpoken for Lutheran Vespers" tour last fall, which
included a rally in Des Moines, helped make LV possible on WHO said the
Rev. Philip J. Hougen, bishop of the Southeastern Iowa Synod. Wangerin
toured seven states in the Upper Midwest, promoting the program and
raising funds for an LV endowment.  He made several appearances in Iowa,
including West Des Moines, Hougen said.
     "We are very pleased and glad to be part of this," he said.  "Our
communication committee wanted to do this.  It's amazing to me how many
people have mentioned they've heard the program."
     Hougen described LV as a program that is a "wonderful witness to
the gospel and a wonderful representation of the ELCA."  People who are
familiar with the program tune in "so it can feed their souls," he said.
Listeners not familiar with the program will hear Wangerin articulate
the gospel in a way that is "Lutheran and solidly biblical," Hougen
said.
     "The Mission Investment Fund has many investors who live in Iowa,"
said the Rev. Arnold O. Pierson, Mission Investment Fund vice president,
marketing. "We are grateful for the opportunity to provide some of the
support that has enabled Lutheran Vespers to be heard by people
throughout Iowa."
  There have been other significant developments for LV, said Brenda
Engelby, Lutheran Vespers associate director for promotion and
placement, ELCA Department for Communication:
  + The program is now heard in New Zealand on the Radio Readers
Network and on shortwave radio, Engelby said.  "Normally, this is a
reading service (newspapers, magazines, books) for the visually
impaired, but they asked for LV, and they will actually be playing the
program as we produce it."  The program is sponsored by the NZ Radio For
the Print Disabled, Inc., Engelby said.
  + Since September, LV has aired every Sunday on the Truckers
Network, available through the ABC Radio Network in conjunction with
Sirius Trucking Satellite Radio, channel 180.  Truck drivers throughout
the country can tune in to the program.
-- -- --
  Information about Lutheran Vespers can be found at
http://www.elca.org/lv/ on the ELCA Web site.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html