Posted on 05/13/2008 9:10:55 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
What in heavens is going on with WJMJ?
The radio station, heard at 88.9 FM in the Hartford area, is owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford but offers air time to programming from other religions.
Earlier this month, Protestant leaders were informed that most or all of their programming would be dropped as the station went to a more Catholic format.
The Rev. John Gatzak, executive director of the archdiocese's Office of Radio and Television, said last week that the station would become more active in Catholic evangelization. He said it was becoming an affiliate of EWTN Radio, which bills itself as the global Catholic radio network, and that network programming would consume "a considerable amount" of WJMJ's broadcast time.
He said there "will probably be an opportunity" for Protestant programming, but said what that will entail has not yet been decided. (The station's music programming will remain.) The Rev. Gatzak said that there are five Protestant radio stations in the state that do not offer Catholic programming, but that WJMJ is the only Catholic station, leaving the Catholic population underserved. He said the archdiocese is still committed to ecumenism.
Although the archdiocese's desire to reach more Catholics is understandable, the changes at WJMJ raise a couple of issues. For one, the station was founded in 1976 by Archbishop John F. Whealon with the goal of broadcasting ecumenical programs, in the open spirit of the Second Vatican Council a decade earlier.
Plus, a 1987 court ruling on the station's broadcast tower in Burlington stipulated that programming "not be restricted to religious programs for only one religious denomination." It is not clear whether that stipulation could be enforced; if all goes well, we won't have to find out.
The Rev. Shelley D. B. Copeland, president of the Capitol Region Conference of Churches and host of one of the station's programs, has tried to be a mediator and plans to meet with the Rev. Gatzak this week.
We hope they can reach an agreement that retains some meaningful program diversity, in the spirit Archbishop Whealon intended. Nearly 500 years after the Protestant Reformation, the relationship between the mainline Christian churches should be collegial rather than competitive. As the Rev. Copeland said, "We're all on the same team."
I don’t have a problem with this. I would be very surprised to find Catholic programming on WNWC in Madison. And there’s another article about Wheaton College dismissing a prof who became Roman Catholic. A faith-based business should be at liberty to remain true to their faith.
That’s what I’m saying - the primarily Protestant station I listen to doesn’t have Catholic programming, I see no problem with a Catholic station not having Protestant programs.
I am in agreement with you. If I turned on my radio and found out that they had Catholic programming I would turn it OFF. I expect no less from a person of Catholic faith.
That would never happen however, Calvary satellite Network is exclusive Evangelical programming. Many of the pastors, believe that the Catholic Church is borderline cultist. I do not take that stance, but I do disagree with many of what they profess as being Biblical.
However, I will never believe my sister is not saved by the Blood of the Lamb, she is just a bit confuse on some gray areas. But she is rock hard in line with me on the fundamentals of Christ’s teachings.
Precisely! Thanks for understanding!
I don’t hear country music on hip hop stations, so this is not a big surprise.
***I don’t hear country music on hip hop stations, so this is not a big surprise.***
Country music is always 10-15 years behind.
1960’s country music was 1950’s rock and roll.
In the 1980’s it was 1970’s music, except disco.
In a few years country music will look hip hop....God help us all!
I don’t see a problem.
More spirit of V2 nonsense. This is what has helped ruin the Catholic Culture of New England.
Who appears to be a black female preacher in the AME Zion denomination. Why would a Catholic station be giving air time to a female protestant preacher, anyway? http://www.faithbasedcoach.org/about_us.html
Sounds like a nest of liberals.
From the article: ...a 1987 court ruling on the station's broadcast tower in Burlington stipulated that programming "not be restricted to religious programs for only one religious denomination."
Sounds like a nest of liberals.
Liberal theologians, anyway.
So share the broadcasts among the 223 Roman Catholic denominations. http://www.ntrmin.org/30000denominations.htm
So much for Ecumenism and V2. Times have changed and the competition is tough. Let’s shoot the protestant denominations so they will stop stealing the unchurched. Sooner or later the church will realize that protestanism is the least of their problems. One could only hope they would remove the problems within the church as quickly as they did those protestant broadcasts. Actually, this kind of attitude is what caused protestants in the first place.
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