102 Years Ago Today: The First Religious Broadcast Message

by Chuck Ness

Today in 1921, just two months to the day after the first public radio broadcasts began on November 2, 1920, the first religious service in the history of broadcasting was aired on KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Westinghouse decided to test their ability to do a broadcast that was not initiated from their radio studio. Because they had an engineer who was a member of the choir at Pittsburgh's Calvary Episcopal Church, they decided to make the arrangements with his church.

Interestingly, the senior pastor, Rev. Edwin Van Ettin, was leery of the new medium, so the first sermon  broadcast over the air was delivered by one of the assistant clergy, Pastor Lewis B. Whittemore. The congregation did not know that the two radio-equipment technicians were not Episcopalian. One was Jewish and the other Catholic, but in order to keep from distracting the congregation, they were outfitted with choir robes. Eventually, the senior pastor overcame his reluctance and became the regular speaker, and the church would go onto give regular weekly broadcasts until 1962.

No where else in the world has religious broadcasting taken hold as it has in the United States. Like all new things, for years radio was viewed by many ministers as either a frivolity of wasted money or just outright evil. But not all were turned off by the new medium, and radio would eventually be so dominated by religious programming that the government stepped in to limit the number radio stations that were allowed to broadcast religious content.Today, radio is so powerful in reaching people for Christ that people who were once unreachable because their government outlawed Christianity are now able to hear the gospel of Christ. Radio, like Christ, knows no walls or fences.

The man credited with inventing radio, Guglielmo Marconi, gazed at the distant horizon one day and thought how the human mind could bridge any distance. He even envisioned that, one day, God's word would reach those in need of salvation. That vision is what encouraged Marconi to believe that Hertzian waves might be able to overcome the obstacle of distance. It is said that that vision is what started him on his experiments. Today, thanks to thousands of other inventors and broadcasters, God's word reaches the farthest corners of the earth in hundreds of languages by radio.

It has now been 90 years since that first radio broadcast on January 2, 1921. The anniversary just happens to also fall on a Sunday as did the original broadcast. The Rector will be doing an interview on the air with Rob Pratte of KDKA Radio AM 1020 on the dial, concerning the Anniversary and the history of Calvary. Rob Pratte's program runs 5 to 7 a.m., EST, each Sunday morning.

As an aside, Rob Pratte just happens to be one of the biggest miniature RR enthusiasts and promoters in the country. You really should check out the online Photo Album he has. You can also follow this link if you want to check out a video filmed by MartyE Productions of https://onevike.blogspot.com/2021/11/awsome-video-of-rob-prattes-famous.html. Both Rob's photo Album and video are truly amazing. I promise you will not be disappointed.