Title: Lutheran Vespers Adds More Stations in 1999
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

June 8, 1999

LUTHERAN VESPERS ADDS MORE STATIONS IN 1999
99-155-LS**

   CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Seventeen radio stations added Lutheran Vespers
to their programming since January 1999, said Brenda J. Engelby.
Lutheran Vespers, the radio ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA), is now heard on 220 stations in the United States,
Denmark, Australia, Guam and Swaziland.
   Engelby, associate director for Lutheran Vespers promotion and
placement, ELCA Department for Communication, hopes to place the program
on 25 more stations in 1999.  Air time for Lutheran Vespers is typically
sponsored by synods, local congregations or individual gifts.
   A top priority this year is to place the program on more stations
in the western United States, Engelby said.  Engelby and local area
contacts have already found sponsors for the program on stations in
Phoenix and Las Vegas.  Other additions this year include Wasilla,
Alaska and Estes Park, Colo.
   Listeners in New York City are now able to hear Lutheran Vespers,
Engelby said, since local contacts found sponsors in Norwalk and
Stamford, Conn.
   Engelby said she is currently working to increase placement of the
radio ministry to the southeastern United States.
   The Rev. Walter M. Wangerin Jr., has been speaker for the half-hour
weekly program since 1994.  He is an ELCA pastor and professor at
Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana. Wangerin has published
several books and is a regular columnist for "The Lutheran," the
magazine of the ELCA.  In his radio ministry, Wangerin mixes stories
with Bible texts to reach 2.5 million to 5 million listeners each week.
   "The purpose of the program is to nurture Christians and to be a
positive influence on seekers," said Engelby. "His stories, reflections,
meditations and life experiences find God in common things and proclaim
Christ in our lives." Wangerin speaks in a nonthreatening way that
invites people to listen, she said.
   Wangerin also shares special stories for the holidays.  Lutheran
Vespers' annual Thanksgiving and Christmas specials were heard on 300
stations last year.  Engelby said her goal for 1999 is to have the
specials on 400 stations.
   Lutheran Vespers has a new logo for 1999. Created to show the
mission of the program in a glance, the new design includes the letters
"L" and "V" for Lutheran Vespers. A cross lies in the middle of the
letters to symbolize Christ as the center of the radio ministry.
   Listeners may receive program tapes, CDs and transcripts monthly or
may request a single program for a small suggested donation.  "GOOD
NEWSletter," a bimonthly newsletter of Lutheran Vespers, is also
available upon request.
   Lutheran Vespers was founded in 1947 and has been on the air for 52
consecutive years. A complete list of radio stations broadcasting
Lutheran Vespers can be found on the World Wide Web at www.elca.org/lv.

[**Lisa Smith is graduate of Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa, interning
with the ELCA Department for Communication.]

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