Dear Friend in Christ:Â
I want to sincerely thank you for your e-mail message regarding the discontinuation of the “Issues, Etc.†program on KFUO-AM Radio. It is good that you are interested in the programming choices of the station. Please know that your comments have been heard and taken to heart.
Some people receiving this message have written before in some fashion on this topic and, sometime ago, received a different response. Others are receiving this message in response to original queries or comments they raised.
In any event, whether you have written one or two or more times, and no matter which “Issuesâ€-related point or points you may have raised, the best and most comprehensive response I can offer at this time is to refer you to a statement on the Synod’s website.
If you haven’t already read this statement, I respectfully invite you to go to www.lcms.org and click on the link called “An updated statement on ‘Issues, Etc.’ â€
I invite you also to listen to “The Afternoon Show†on KFUO-AM, weekdays from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Now and into the future, it will be the constant endeavor of KFUO-AM management to offer the best in Gospel-based programming throughout the day—programming that reaches out to Lutherans, other Christians, and the unchurched, and all within a budget we can hope to sustain.
Please continue to keep the radio ministry of the Synod in your prayers. Please also prayerfully consider what you might do, if so inclined, to support this important work.
Thank you.
Sincerely in Christ,
David L. Strand
Executive Director
Board for Communication Services
I just listened to half hour of the show. God mentioned twice and not a lick of theology. In the same span on Issues Etc., that would not have been the case. So "programmatic and stewardship reasons" are entirely apparent. That means twenty minutes on the C.S. Lewis (no, not his Christianity but his fondness for children's books) and 10 minutes on exercising. Now, that is a useful program for the local AM station but not for a ministry arm of the Synod.Â
Pr. Weedon blogged on the new program yesterday:
Weedon's Blog: No Room for the Men?
No Room for the Men?
That's what struck me as I listened to what they're replaced Issues with. It's a woman's show. Ladies, don't yell at me. I know LOTS of you liked Issues, but I can almost promise you that no man is going to listen to the show they've got up there now (nothing against Diane Summers, but that show is pure fluff). It's more of the feminization of the Church, all smooth and soft and nothing that would offend. Issues, Etc., I'd wager, had a LARGE percentage of male (maybe particularly younger male) listeners. Why would they want to lose that? It doesn't make sense.
