The Decatur area project has received encouragement from the Springfield diocese and from St. Mary’s Hospital in Decatur.
“It’s our dream to eventually broadcast a Mass live from a different parish church in our area each Sunday,” in addition to having regular programming, says Jim Comerford, who together with Deacon Jim Ghiglione began planning Decatur Catholic Radio in the fall of 2006.
Deacon Ghiglione, originally from the St. Louis area, was used to having access to multiple Catholic radio stations. He had asked Comerford why Decatur didn’t have a Catholic station.
“Catholic radio offers the single most powerful means of evangelization available in the church today. Dollar for dollar radio costs less than other media. It reaches more people in less time for less money with less staff,” Comerford discovered, after researching the matter.
“People can listen if they want, when they want. It is a great way to reach people. They don’t have to have a subscription in order to receive it. It is there. It will be there at FM 88.9.”
Tony Holman, of Covenant radio, which serves several areas in the Springfield diocese, helped the Decatur group get started. “He explained we had to first find out if there was an FM radio signal open in the area (there was). He also encouraged us to join the Catholic Radio Association, where we received lots of sound advice,” says Comerford.
In his professional career, Comerford has worked in licensing, and is familiar with building towers. “Here was an opportunity for me to use my professional knowledge with my faith to do something positive,” says Comerford.
When the Decatur committee applied for a radio license three years ago, they were told it would take from two and a half to three years. An attorney in Washington, D.C., told them they had to be a business incorporated for at least two years.
“We could not use the diocesan corporation, because it was in Springfield. St. Mary’s Hospital in Decatur agreed to help us. They even supplied a space for us on their campus, and they agreed to do our bookkeeping,” says Comerford.
Decatur Catholic Radio is a division of St. Mary’s Hospital. “The good Lord worked all his wonders,” says Comerford. “Things just came together.”
The station will be an affiliate of EWTN for programming, but also plans to generate its own programs. “We hope our signal will cover Decatur and portions of nearby communities,” says Comerford. The 600-watt tower will be built in Oreana.
The station will be volunteer run and generated.
“We hope to be able to have Bishop Thomas John Paprocki at St. Mary’s Chapel on March 17 to flip the switch for the station to go on the air,” says Comerford.
Providing “authentic Catholic programming” is an opportunity to bring people back who may have fallen away from the church; to increase a person’s knowledge of what the church teaches; to improve the Decatur Catholic community and to save souls, says Comerford.
More information is available on its website at: www.wdck.org.