SAVE WGTS

God is good!

Thank you to all of you WGTS listeners who have faithfully prayed for and supported the station during such a stressful and trying time. We truly believe you were used by God to help save the station so it can continue its ministry to the Washington DC area and beyond. Thousands of you contacted the concerned parties to express your thoughts on the matter. You all resisted the urge to be nasty or hostile, and as one CUC board member commented yesterday, you consistently expressed your concerns in a “gentle, Christian manner”.

We would also like to ask you to continue to pray for the people who made this decision and will continue to deal with tough issues in the months ahead. You emailed the college to show your support for WGTS. We would now encourage you to email them to say thank you for deciding to not sell the station. Let them know that you were praying and will continue to pray for them. Let them know how much you appreciate their decision. And let them know how this will impact you and your life. You can email them at comments@cuc.edu.

Also think about making a thank offering to the station and its ministry, as the next few months will be a bit rocky, catching their breath and getting back to normal. Because of the uncertainty about the future past September 20, the station was not able to accept underwriting to sponsor/promote alot of events that were coming up soon after that date, and now needs to get back to into their normal routine.

And finally, a note of appreciation to the excellent WGTS staff and the incredible job they’ve done during horribly stressful times. You never heard that stress come through on the air, they have been professionals through and through!

Praise the Lord!!

Written by John
Hi, this is WGTS General Manager John Konrad. Recently, the Columbia Union College board of trustees met to decide on the financial future of the college. After much discussion, the board decided to RESCIND the action to sell WGTS for now. This means that Family Friendly WGTS and Christian Music will continue on 91.9 FM.

Obviously, I’m happy and I share your joy at this news. I can’t begin to tell you how much your prayers and support have meant to the WGTS family over these past few months. I also want to take a minute to share a few thoughts with you as well.

As I’ve been thinking about this, I opened my grandfathers bible he was given when he was baptized in 1924 in Pontiac, Michigan, and immediately: Romans 8:28 came to mind, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.”

It is because of your prayers and letters and the support of the local pastors, and the pastors and leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in this region that this ministry is able to continue.

In recent days, you may have heard people say, “Save WGTS”. But WGTS is far more than a building or broadcast tower – it’s a spirit — it means passing along encouragement to someone who needs hope, lending a helping hand to someone in need, coming alongside a friend to help keep their mind on what is really important in life.

You’ve heard me say it before, and I’ll say it again; WGTS is God’s radio station, and always has been. His ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are so much higher than our thoughts. That’s why we have nothing to worry about. The Lord performed a miracle today and we give him all the praise and thanks for what happened. This year marks the 50th anniversary of WGTS. What an amazing gift from God that this radio ministry can continue.

So, on behalf of the staff and WGTS board of directors, I want to tell you what a privilege it’s been to serve you and a joy to tell you that we will continue to serve you. Thank you for your prayers, donations and for listening.

Thanks to WGTS listener Penny M. for starting this petition:

[From the Pharaohsprotege blog:]

A couple hours ago I was reminded about how important the ministry of WGTS 91.9fm is. There is a vendor who stands at one of the exits of Washington, DC’s Union Station almost every day. If you happen to be in the area, you would see him dancing, with tambourine in hand, singing the songs played on WGTS 91.9fm, coming from his battery powered radio. Next to him today was a homeless woman, sitting on the floor, shaking her head in unison with the music.

WGTS 91.9fm = Church….How?

• The few seconds that it takes to pass by that gentleman playing WGTS 91.9fm is the only time that thousands of passersby might actually hear about Jesus.
• The songs played on WGTS that some of the employees at my office hum (and sing) is often the only praise songs they would ever sing and the closest they would get to a church.
• And yes, it gets personal! WGTS 91.9fm was the last strand that kept me faithful when I was borderline atheist for more than two years.

WGTS 91.9fm is a ‘church’ for thousands….no, not just thousands, hundreds of thousands and with a potential listenership of six million…I cannot emphasize enough how valuable this ministry is.

 “September 20 “D-Day” For GTS - 9/5 - DCRTV hears that we’ll probably know something about the sale of Columbia Union College’s Christian contemporary WGTS (91.9 FM) on 9/20, when the Takoma Park school’s board of directors meets. Along with the bid from Minnesota Public Radio/American Public Media to transform the station into a news talker, two other groups are interested in the station. Both would keep the station’s current format, but one is based in California - K-Love - and would run it from there, while the other is local and would keep the current WGTS staff together, we’re told. If the station is sold on 9/20, the deal could take three months to get approval from the FCC. It’s still not clear if the new owner would take control of WGTS via a pre-sale agreement - but that is very possible. “The college is in deep financial crisis and needs the money bad, and WGTS happens to be about their last asset they can sell without selling off land, dorms, and other buildings,” a college source tells us…..”

 From WGTS supporter, Bob:

“Thanx to my good friend and fellow “Yeh-Oh-er” Liz for the template, and after a little resizing and reconfiguring i am very happy w/ the outcome! If ya see me (Bob) or my wife (Rita) toolin’ around town, give a toot on the horn and a friendly wave and show your support….”

Why not share WGTS with your church or organization! If you haven’t already, watch this WGTS mission video, and then arrange to get a dvd version to show to your group. Email us for more information on getting a copy to screen for your organization.

[UPDATED: Here's Angela's appearance on CNN Friday morning, Aug. 24!]

http://itskevin.com/2007/08/23/angelas-advisory-board-on-cnn/
http://wgts.org/wordpress/?p=268
http://angelasadvisoryboard.com/

As Columbia Union College and its Union continue to stand firm in rejecting the station’s bid to buy itself, and the offer from a Christian broadcasting company as well, being attracted instead by a secular offer, it seems to keep coming back to the fact that the station’s greatest hope is your prayers. Often the stronger and more effective a ministry becomes, the stronger the efforts that are arrayed against it. Please pray for the ministry of WGTS, and the people affected by it. Pray for the station’s staff as they soldier on through incredibly tough times. And pray that God will inspire someone who has the means to invest $10 million immediately in this ministry, that they might be moved to make that kind of commitment to save such a valuable Christian resource.

Here’s another example of a WGTS listener finding a creative way to share their support for Family Friendly Radio. Thanks to someone for sharing this with us. This is the message that accompanied the picture:

“See what I did to my explorer last night! I think you guys need to get to Party City and get yourselves some window markers! I copied the logo to a MS Publisher file and printed in poster format to blow it up. Then I taped it to the inside of my window at night and left the inside light on while I traced it with the markers. This morning I filled in some of the bare spots. Liz”

Thanks, Liz! And all the rest of you WGTS supporters, let us see how you are showing YOUR support for the radio station! Just email any pics to turnyourradioon@hotmail.com. We’d love to see them.

Want to let your friends and neighbors know you support Family Friendly Radio, and also show them where to go online to join you? Visit the new www.SaveWGTS.org Store.

Thanks to the WGTS fans at last Sunday’s Washington National’s baseball game! Send us your pictures of how you’re supporting the “Save WGTS” cause! The more imaginative the better!

Links to all media stories about the proposed WGTS sale have been moved together to a new page. Please refer to the index at the right of your screen.

If you haven’t read the Washington Post article on the sale, check it out in our media archives. Interestingly, the Post claims the College and Union never returned calls, the College and Union claim they were never contacted. Hmmmmm.

Keep in mind that the College has tried to keep the sale quiet from the start, the College and Union were upset when a letter alerted listeners to the sale, and the WGTS staff has apparently been told not to discuss the matter. The Post reporter made the following comments to a station board member, you be the judge:

“I’m surprised they would say that, given that I left phone messages for both Dave Weigley and Scott Steward on their personal voice mails and neither even had the courtesy to call and say that they would not be talking. It’s rare in this business to be stiffed like that by a college, but since I had the same (lack of) response from both of them, I have to conclude that this was a purposeful decision not to respond to the press and to public concerns about the future of the station.”

“I sought comment from the college–they of course have the right not to talk to reporters, but they ought to have the decency to return a phone call and they do have a responsibility to their community to explain their actions.”

doc.pdf

CUC’s website was changed, moving their WGTS sale explanation off the mainpage, so for those who looked for it and couldn’t find it, the link is http://www.cuc.edu/academic/news.html?story_id=1569.

Let’s stop a moment and look at what’s going on. Does it seem like things just don’t add up?

Columbia Union College decides they need to sell the WGTS license to get some quick cash. The logic of that decision aside, what are their options?:

1) Accept the offer from the WGTS Board of Directors. This would provide less cash up front, but provide an additional annual cash payment to the college for quite a few years.(Some would say that’s the only way to keep CUC from racing through the money all at once, as is their pattern in the past). Most importantly, this option would allow WGTS to continue with its current format and staff intact.

2) Accept the offer from the Educational Media Foundation, parent company of KLOVE Christian radio. This would insure that the 91.9 frequency continues to provide Christian music programming to the Washnington area, even if it wasn’t WGTS.

3) Accept the offer from American Public Media Group, parent company of Minnesota Public Radio. This would mean that 91.9 would become a secular public affairs/news talk radio station.

If Columbia Union College wasn’t/isn’t willing to accept option #1, then why did it completely turn it’s back on the Christian community by rejecting offer #2? We understand the offers from #2 and #3 were almost identical moneywise. Digital channel options may have been discussed by one or both, but as we all know, the digital options are useless. So, we ask again, why is Columbia Union College, a supposedly “Christian” college, so deadset against Christian radio? 

[Anyone have any info on this? If so, email it to turnyourradioon@yahoo.com]

MPR May Have Lost Front-Runner Status In GTS Contest - 7/25 - DCRTV hears that there are now some “other entities” as serious contenders for Columbia Union College’s Christian contemporary WGTS (91.9 FM), in addition to the recently publicized bid from Minnesota Public Radio. We hear that the Minneapolis-based group may no longer be “the clear front-runner.” We’ll know more in September, when the college’s board of trustees is slated to decide the fate of the Takoma Park radio station…..

So many of you have been writing asking about the history of WGTS 91.9FM. With the help of retired manager Donald Wheeler, we have compiled the following brief history of WGTS 91.9FM:

Sensing a need for qualified religious radio broadcasters, the college (in about 1948) requested that Dr. W. Fletcher Tarr initiate student training in that field.

Dr. Tarr, the acting head of the speech and radio department at that time, had broad experience in the field of radio, having done work for the British Broadcasting Company in Capetown, South Africa.

There had previously been a “wired radio” system in the dormitories and the hospital to entertain the students with music. So, from “scratch” - in the basement of North Hall (the boy’s dormitory), Dr. Tarr and two students partitioned and sound-proofed the beginnings of their little station. The radio class insisted that the call letters be Dr. Tarr’s initials: WAFT (Wilfrid Atherton Fletcher Tarr).

Students developed and recorded on platter, religious radio plays. These platters were then picked up and broadcast on a Silver Spring radio station. Other Washington area radio stations followed suit.

The college thus became widely recognized throughout the Washington area and the Washington Star featured an article about the college and specifically the station WAFT.

In May 1957, Dr. Stephen Hiten, Chairman of the Speech Department, applied for an educational FM station. It was started with a 10 watt transmitter and a short antenna on the roof of North Hall. The call letters he requested are still used today. Thus WGTS (Washington’s Gateway To Service-the college motto), was born. WGTS was the first non-commercial station to go into operation in the Washington area. It was also the first non-commercial station to broadcast in stereo in Washington D.C.

In the early 1970’s WGTS was moved out of the Speech Department and became a separate department of the College. Joe Spicer was made Director of Broadcasting for the college and three full-time employees were hired. In 1972, Don Martin was hired as the Manager of the station. In 1974 the license was transferred from Columbia Union College to Columbia Union College Broadcasting (now WGTS/Columbia Union College Broadcasting, Inc), a wholly owned subsidiary of Columbia Union College.

During that time, the station was moved from the boy’s dormitory to what had been a wood mill, and a new tower was erected. As time went by a more powerful transmitter was added, the tower was made higher. Later, more space was added to the studios and a new transmitter was purchased to achieve the power of 29,500 watts at 168 feet (HAAT).

In 1980, Don Wheeler became manager of WGTS. In 1982 the station began operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Don also led the station to financial independence from the college. The college stopped all subsidies to the station in 1980, but provided studio space and electricity. Don also worked to stabilize the format of the station to focus on Classical music Sunday-Friday evening, and various religious programming Friday evening to Saturday evening.

In 1996 John Konrad became manager of WGTS. Long time WGTS host and President of the WGTS Board, Gerry Fuller, knew that running a full-time radio station on an annual budget of $250,000 was just not possible and he asked station management to propose a change that would reach out to an under served audience, continue the stations history and original intent of training religious broadcasters, and be something compatible to our Christian college owners, Columbia Union College. At that time 90 % of the WGTS budget was raised from the religious programming which was only 10% of the station’s programming.

In 1997 management led by Manager John Konrad, Program Director Sharon Kuykendall, and Operations Manager Ben Milton, presented their report on the potential of becoming a full time Contemporary Christian Music radio station in the Washington DC area. The change took place in September of 1997, and at the same time Salem Communications put in a bid for WGTS of $10 million. The Board of Trustees committed to not sell WGTS, but with the stipulation that WGTS start paying rent and for services the college provided. From 1998 until currently WGTS has paid for rent and any services. The budget grew, allowing WGTS to hire more people and increase our student training and mentoring.

In 2004 WGTS completed a tower move to the WETA tower. WETA, WGTS, and WAVA share a common antenna on the top of WETA’s tower. Our current power is 23,500 watts at 696 feet (HAAT). This increased the coverage area of WGTS immensely, increasing audience and funding.

WGTS currently has 9 full time employees and 12 part time employees. WGTS raises $2.5 million dollars annually and has over 250,000 listeners in the Baltimore/Washington DC Area.

WGTS continues to be a primary source of publicity for Columbia Union College, in particular their School of Professional Graduate Studies. Many of the full time employees are alumni of Columbia Union College and students originally trained at WGTS.

Why does Columbia Union College feel more comfortable with a local hip-hop/urban radio station than it’s own Christian, “Family Friendly” station?

The School of Graduate and Professional Studies at Columbia Union College is partnering with Washington, D.C.’s highly-rated WPGC 95.5 FM for a two-week on-air promotion titled “A Dream Deferred.”

CUC will give away to one worthy listener a full semester of undergraduate classes in the School of Graduate and Professional Studies (read entire story here)…

And check out the lyrics to the number one songs on WGTS and WPGC. Which one do you think better reflects the identity of a Christian college?
#1 song on WGTS
#1 song on WPGC

[Were constituents led to believe they would not lose the church asset of WGTS? Excerpt from the Report from the College President, presented at the November 17, 2006 Columbia Union constituency meeting (quoted from page 18):]

“The proposal that the Board of Trustees voted, which is included in the final section of this report, identifies the belief that Columbia Union College, providing a Seventh-day Adventist liberal arts education in the setting of Washington, DC, is a vital resource for the training of leaders for the Church and community…..

This proposal also suggests a future that utilizes all of the College’s assets for its educational mission. For decades the College has had insufficient funding to appropriately ensure that operating budgets were balanced, physical assets were preserved, the endowment was protected, and human assets were developed and nourished. Under this proposal, selected homes, land holdings, and the College’s radio station (the license sold to WGTS to preserve this outstanding ministry) would be monetized in order to provide the remaining funds needed to build on phase one of the new performing arts center, to dramatically enlarge the endowment, to improve campus infrastructure, and to liquidate a portion of College debt.”

http://threewaynews.blogspot.com/2006/02/minnesota-public-radio-and-me.html

http://citypages.com/databank/23/1107/article10161.asp?page=4

http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2004/03/08/story2.html

http://citypages.com/databank/26/1265/article13016.asp

[Apparently sent out on July 18. Thanks to source (not connected to WGTS btw) for sending it to us]

  Marketing and Communications Office

You may have noticed that in today’s Washington Times business section that there’s an article about WGTS.  Here’s the link (note that the story continues on the next page of the site) :      http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070718/BUSINESS/107180017/1006

Here’s what you can do to help:

1. Give me your counsel. Your input is valued and welcome at any time.

Please refer all media inquires to Scott Steward, CUC’s executive director of marketing and communications, at (301) 891-####.

St. Olaf’s college in Minnesota is still reeling, years later, from the sale of their college radio station to Minnesota Public Radio, the current bidder to buy WGTS. The sale, opposed by many listeners and alumni, has had a chilling effect on donations to the college and the school is still dealing with continued litigation over the matter.

http://SaveWCAL.LiveJournal.com

An article on the Minnesota Public Radio website confirms what so many have speculated, that they are the bidders in negotiations to purchase the license of WGTS. If successful, the new owners would broadcast a news format with “an emphasis on global government issues”.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/07/18/wgts/

[10 years ago Columbia Union College was in financial trouble yet again, and tried to sell the station. Listener support and a realization of the ministry's importance in the Washington area stopped that plan. The following is an Adventist News Network news story from the time. Notice the quotes about the station. What's changed since then? Apparently only the desperation of Columbia Union College.]

[Following article from 10 yrs ago, NOT CURRENT]

WGTS Radio: College Board Votes No to Sale

Silver Spring, Md. , USA … [ANN] The Board of Columbia Union College (CUC) voted November 13, not to accept the offer from Salem Communications to purchase the radio station WGTS for $10 million. The station broadcasts from the campus of CUC but operates as a separate organization, relying on contributions for most of its funding.

The station changed from classical programming to a “contemporary Christian” format in August. Five worship services are broadcast each week with consistently high listener levels.[Jonathan Gallagher][Preceding article from 10 yrs ago, not current]

Yup, sad to say, that’s a strong possibility. Bad enough that Columbia Union College would sacrifice WGTS for cash, but to turn down Christian bidders in favor of Alt Rock or secular news? Shameful.

 [From today's www.dcrtv.com:]

One big problem with MPR (Minnesota Public Radio doncha know) “taking on” WAMU or even resurrecting something like WETA’s brief news and info format, WAMU is a major purchaser of MPR programming. Especially now that WETA has gone back to classical, so that would be a major F-U to a big customer. MPR’s current holdings outside the original stations include a former Minneapolis CHR in the twin cities they bought to place their classical service on, L.A. station KPCC which was in dire straits as a community college licensee in the nation’s second largest market - which had no public radio news and info station (KCRW is a weaker signal licensed to Santa Monica), and the former classical station licensed to St. Olaf College in their original market. With a classical and an info station already in that market, they went with triple A on that frequency, and have received a ton of press coverage on that format. I think if MPR buys WGTS it’s pretty clear what format they are touting these days. WTMD is the real loser. (7/16/07)

You’ll notice in the statements released by those attempting to smooth the sale of WGTS, that they imply that they will try to save the station by enabling it to broadcast on a digital channel. THIS IS NOT TRUE. It’s bait and switch, a public relations attempt to make WGTS supporters think their station will be saved, and protect the reputations of those selling and shutting down the station.

Digital radio will be how you listen to radio in the future. The very far off future. The public has been much slower to show interest in digital radio than analysts had predicted, in part because of the high cost of digital radio receivers, which you will need to buy to listen…..currently $200+. You will need to switch over to a new digital radio in your car, your house, your office…..wherever you listen to radio.

An industry analyst was recently quoted as projecting “that just 9 percent of U.S. households will have digital radios by 2009″, and that in 2010 digital radio would continue to trail behind even radio listened to on cellphones. Digital radio signals also have a smaller coverage area. Does this sound like a digital channel will provide a viable alternative for WGTS? We didn’t think so.

[For what it's worth, here's a quote from www.dcrtv.com:]

More likely, the University of Maryland is buying WGTS, because they are loosing their FM station. (7/14/07)

Dave’s response: I’d put the most stock in the alleged Minnesota Public Radio purchase of 91.9 for a news talker, to fill the “hole” when WETA-FM flipped back to classical. This wonky area can easily support two public radio news talkers, especially now that WaPo Radio is looking like some kind of weird “WMALWJFK” mess…..

Read the statements in the next two postings and tell us if you didn’t know any better if you’d think the sale was a done deal or not? The decision to sell or not to sell will not be final or decided until the Columbia Union College Board of Trustees votes on it in September. Those in control (or who would like to think they are in control) have been annoyed by popular support to save the station and are attempting to end that kind of lobbying. Their most effective method? Making you think the final decision has been made and there’s no point in your continuing to fight the sale. This is not true! The opera isn’t over until the fat lady sings, and in this case she doesn’t sing anything until that vote in September. So, continue to lobby as hard as you can for what you believe in, and continue to spread the word and encourage your friends, family, church families, etc., to do that same!

[Released July 12. Note subtle changes in wording from July 11 statement below, obviously trying to strengthen the impression that the sale is a done deal, no point in anyone working against it. Reading this you'd not even know a vote still needs to take place to approve any sale. We understand that there's an even bigger difference between these and the original draft version of the July 11 statement, seen by a few people before the authors banned distribution. Anyone out there have a copy of that draft version?]

CUC TO SELL RADIO STATION LICENSE - After a lengthy discussion on
Sunday, the Columbia Union College Board of Trustees voted to begin
negotiations with a potential buyer for the WGTS license. Members say
that the goal of any potential sale is to protect and grow the future of
Columbia Union College as an Adventist Christian college in the
nation’s capital. Contract stipulations include the ability to
continue broadcasting WGTS using digital radio broadcast technology.
Though it’s uncertain when that technology would become widely
available, it would allow CUC to maintain a radio broadcast ministry in
the nation’s capital. The board expects to finalize a contract in
September. Anyone wishing to comment on this issue or offer viable
alternatives should e- mail comments@cuc.edu. Comments will be shared
with board members.

[Released July 11?. Read the language carefully, and then compare with the news release above] 

VOTE ON RADIO STATION LICENSE

The Columbia Union College Board of Trustees voted to begin negotiations with a potential buyer for the WGTS license. The goal of any potential sale is to protect and grow the future of Columbia Union College as an Adventist Christian college in the nation’s capital.

Contract stipulations include the ability to continue broadcasting WGTS using digital radio broadcast technology. That would allow CUC to maintain a radio broadcast ministry in the nation’s capital.  

The board expects to finalize a contract in September. Your comments about this decision should be emailed to comments@cuc.edu; they will be shared with CUC board members.

Please refer all media inquires to Scott Steward, CUC’s executive director of marketing and communications, at (301) 891-4082.

Letter to WGTS Family

Written by John

Thank you for your ongoing prayers for this radio station and your letters of support. Your prayers and letters have given us continued strength through this difficult time.

As some of you know several offers have been made to purchase the station from Columbia Union College - our parent organization (WGTS is a self-supporting subsidiary of Columbia Union College). Based on the college’s financial situation, they voted on July 8th to seriously look at one of these offers. While we at WGTS do not know which offer the College has chosen to pursue, please note that the College Board of Trustees plans to decide on the issue at its next scheduled board meeting in September. It’s a pivotal time for the WGTS family - your prayer of support is welcomed as are your comments. All comments to the Columbia Union College Board of Trustees are asked to be sent to comments@cuc.edu. If you would like to you could also send a copy to wgts@wgts919.com to help encourage the staff.

As a financial contributor to WGTS 91.9 myself, I understand the reluctance some have voiced to continue giving when the long-term future is unclear. During this time our bills still continue, the power company still sends a bill each month, we still pay rent for our building, our programming costs continue, and we still need to pay the staff for their work. The immediate future is clear, however. God is changing lives - right now - today - and your gift of support makes that possible.

WGTS is God’s radio station and always has been. We’ve all done our share of worrying about the future of WGTS in recent days, but you know what, God is completely in control. We have nothing to worry about. He has a purpose for WGTS and that purpose is being worked out every step of the way.

I promise that we’ll continue to let you know the minute we have any news that will affect the station’s ownership situation. As we await the decision to be made by the Columbia Union College Board of Trustees, the WGTS 91.9 staff will continue to bring you the songs you love, reaching and encouraging all we can in our community. Thank you again for your prayers and support.

–John is General Manager of WGTS 91.9. he has spent over 20 years in radio, and the last 10 in Christian Radio. John is married to Dawn and they live with their family of four dogs and 1 cat. You will usually see John attached to his German Shepherd Andy.

July 12th 2007 Posted to Managers Memo

June 20, 2007

Dear Friend

I am writing in regards to something you and I are passionate about, WGTS 91.9FM. You
are used to hearing from John Konrad, so to let you know who I am, for over 25 years I served as
President of WGTS, and have been on the board of directors now for over 35 years. I have
watched this organization grow and reach people for Christ in no small part due to you and your
support. People’s souls are saved each day through the music and programs, through
conversations with our chaplain, Terry Johnsson, and through your prayers.

I feel you should know the parent company of WGTS, Columbia Union College, is
considering SELLING this valuable irreplaceable ministry very soon. We understand they will
be voting on the issue June 28th or July 2nd. The WGTS Board of Directors has submitted a
proposal to purchase the station to continue its ministry. However the college has other bids, the
highest bid is from a non-Christian source. The bids are quite substantial, and depending upon
which bid is accepted, it may mean the end of Christian radio on 91.9FM.

I know this is distressing to you. The staff is working hard, and praying for grace and
strength to continue their ministry in hopes that Columbia Union College accepts our proposal.
As a supporter you have a right to know this is happening.

I urge you to pray now that God’s will for this station continues, and I hope you make
your feelings known on this to the Chairman of the Columbia Union College Board of Trustees.
You can contact him here:

David Weigley
5427 Twin Knolls Road
Columbia, MD 21045
Email: dweigley@columbiaunion.net
Phone: 301-596-0800

I also urge you to copy the radio station staff on your correspondence so they know you
are there behind them. Thank you for your prayers!

WGTS
7600 Flower Ave
Takoma Park, MD 20912
Email: wgts@wgts.org

Sincerely,

Dr Gerald Fuller