Transmitters built to beam in communist propaganda from Russia are to be used to bring Britain its first national Christian radio station. Tony Cummings reports on the miraculous Medium Wave breakthrough of UCB EUROPE.

Chris Cole

At midday of Tuesday 23rd September Gareth Littler, managing director of Britain's United Christian Broadcasters, met, in a stuffy Moscow office, with two officials from the Russian Federation. At that meeting the three signed an agreement, one which could come to have huge ramifications for the British Church. For with the signing a dream that had long fired and sustained the UCB ministry - to establish a national Christian radio station for the whole of Britain on ordinary, terrestrial radio - was catapulted into the present. On 3rd December at 4.30pm the first Medium Wave (AM) broadcast on 1386 KHz of UCB Europe will begin. Astonishingly, the broadcast will be from the world's largest transmitter site, set up by Stalin as a giant propaganda machine. Said Gareth Littler, "This is nothing short of a miracle. This Medium Wave frequency is a leftover from the cold war and the Russian authorities are no longer interested in using it to tell the world about communism."

Instead, the Stoke-On-Trent-based ministry will be telling Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia and Germany the life-giving message of Christ. UCB has pioneered satellite broadcasting, on the Sky Sports Channel, and UCB's satellite broadcasts will continue. Explained Chris Cole, CEO of Cross Rhythms and one of the two presenters of a daily Cross Rhythms Inspiration programme on UCB Europe, "The Medium Wave broadcasts will extend hugely the listenership of UCB Europe. But those already listening on satellite and enjoying its CD-quality sound will no doubt want to continue with that system. UCB's satellite broadcasts will continue seven days a week, 24 hours a day. But now, every evening, from 4.30pm to half past midnight, the satellite listeners will be joined by tens of thousands more ordinary radio listeners able to listen for the first time to genuine Christian broadcasting via Medium Wave."

The long term plan for UCB is to develop two separate stations, one UCB Europe with its emphasis on softer inspirational music and teaching geared to meet the needs and tastes of ordinary church goers, and the other UCB Cross Rhythms with its exposure of youth-orientated rock, rap and dance aimed at both young Christians and non-church goers. Not that UCB Europe music programming will be less than contemporary. In the week I write this the UCB Europe contemporary record of the week is Jars Of Clay, while a typical Cross Rhythms Inspiration programme could feature the worship of Matt Redman, Delirious? and Kevin Prosch. And Chris Cole is keen that young CCM devotees show tolerance to the musical tastes of older Christians. "It goes beyond a question of taste. What we have here is a God-given broadcasting opportunity which could really make an impact for the Kingdom of God. We need to hold our particular musical preferences in tension. Otherwise, we're in danger of becoming radically religious."

The Cross Rhythms Inspiration, the show Chris Cole will present for five nights with Mike Farrington doing the other two, started in 1994 when put out on Plymouth Sound. It failed to take hold in Plymouth ("it didn't get the support of local churches who often still do not understand how to employ electronic media") but became a successful show elsewhere, currently being syndicated to numerous stations around the globe. With its compelling use of soundbites over music using the preaching of such as Tony Campolo, Henry Nowens, Louis Els, John Barr, Tony Fitzgerald and RT Kendall. It is avowedly ministry-based and in the words of Chris Cole, "speaks in a spiritual language you'd need to be churched to understand."

Other programmes on UCB Europe offer quality instruction from such internationally renowned Bible teachers as Dr. James Dobson, Dr Billy Graham, Luis Palau and Derek Prince and a wide sweep of Christian music from hymnody and Graham Kendrick through to Jaci Velasquez and Martyn Joseph. There will also be a set of specialist mid-evening music programmes offering country (Mondays), soul, jazz and blues (Tuesdays). Psalmody (Wednesdays) golden oldies (Thursdays) and The Vinyl Frontier (Fridays). Chris Cole is very positive about what the future holds for UCB Europe. "With revival on the lips of so many people, the time is now right for a radio station proclaiming that Christ is the head of His Church. The message that will be communicated will emphatically celebrate Kingdom principles. It won't emphasise the doctrines of one tradition against another but will stand on the authority of God's Word. It will say to believers that as they submit to local church, so leadership should be encouraged to acknowledge that it is Christ Himself, who is the head of His body."

Chris Cole expects a degree of opposition to UCB Europe both from the media world, forever twitching to identify right wing fundamentalists gaining ground, and the religious establishment. He comments, "We have no mandate or agenda to stir things up. But just being there and being faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, UCB will probably make some waves. No doubt we will get criticism from both sides. And that criticism will be the very fertiliser God uses to mature us. In the same way that in 2 Corinthians 11, Paul boasts about his sufferings, it's in our adversities that we mature. One of the things that I think is absolutely vital for UCB is that all the broadcasters are more than simply professional communicators, their lives need to speak the Gospel. We have to internalise and incarnate the message. People need to know that UCB isn't just saying a message, but the lives of the people on air bear the signature of Christ."

Another thing that Chris Cole is enthusiastic about is the opportunity for growth that a national radio station will make to Britain's still perilously under-supported Christian music scene. "We've got a few bright spots of support - Delirious? in the charts, Graham Kendrick being sung in lots of local churches - but by and large the bulk of believers in Britain are still ignorant about the wealth of Christian music out there, music with the potential to encourage, instruct, envision. CCM desperately needs to grow in Britain and it needs a national Christian radio station for that to happen."

Another point Chris is anxious to make is that the launch of UCB Europe on Medium Wave is only another step in UCB's 10 year battle to see them establish 24hour Christian broadcasting in the UK that has seen them progress from broadcasts on the Isle Of Man to some parts of Scotland and Ireland (October '87), broadcasting on Clyde Cable (October '90), broadcasting with local 28-day FM licences (July '91-March '92) and today's successful satellite broadcasting across Europe. "What happens on December 3rd is not a point of arrival, it's just another step," commented Chris. "Gareth Littler has done a great job in taking the mantle from previous Managing Director, Ian Mackie, and guiding UCB through incredibly daunting waters - remember when UCB began, under Mr. Mackie's guidance, the forces of the law in Britain were completely opposed to the concept of national Christian broadcasting, and still are. Gareth really is a visionary. At the Cross Rhythms festival '97 he spoke from the platform and said we'd be ready to go on air by November '97. (We started our first test transmission in November.) Now he did not know at the time UCB would be given the opportunity by the Russian authorities to use their transmitters. We need to see the miracle of that. No man could have put all this together. Really what UCB is doing is following the strategy of God."

With all the focus for the moment on the inspirational UCB Europe there are still major plans afoot to develop the youth culture UCB Cross Rhythms. "At the moment people can hear UCB Cross Rhythms on satellite every Saturday morning and afternoon and in the early hours of the morning the rest of the week. Now UCB Cross Rhythms is working towards funding its own satellite sub-carrier. "With that, it would mean that we could broadcast via satellite both UCB Europe and UCB Cross Rhythms seven days a week, 24 hours a day," enthused Chris. "The cost of a sub-carrier would be in the tune of £60,000. I think the Friends Of Cross Rhythms could be crucial in helping to raise that money."

The story of UCB has been the story of continuing miraculous provision. On 3rd December it will take another momentous step forward in its unrelenting progress towards taking the airwaves for the Kingdom of God.