Church gets OK for radio tower

Pastor aims to air local programming

Friday, May 9, 2008

William Ruckman, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church on Pegg Road in Lexington Park, said his church has been broadcasting low-output radio programming for the past nine years at the FM frequency of 88.1.

The FCC generally reserves the lower end of the FM dial for noncommercial and educational programming. About two years ago, Ruckman said, the FCC announced it was making the 88.1 frequency available for higher-output use and were taking applications for use of the frequency.

‘‘So we went for it,” Ruckman said. And they got it, late last week.

Peter Doyle, the FCC’s chief of audio services, said the construction permit requires the antenna to be built within three years. Doyle also said at 1,900 watts, the church’s signal is ‘‘considered a Class A station, with the smallest full-power designation.”

Calvary’s current 32-watt signal carries round-the-clock satellite fed programming originating from the Grace Baptist Church in Newport, N.C. that, said Ruckman, ‘‘includes music, preaching, Bible study and children’s programming.” The Pegg Road church is one of about 40 stations in the Fundamental Broadcast Network. ‘‘Once we get our new tower,” Ruckman said, ‘‘we’ll still be rebroadcasting (the North Carolina programming) but we’ll be in full control.” He said the local church hopes to eventually design its own programming schedule, ‘‘but it takes time to build up a music and program library.

‘‘Even though we have to move the antenna 10 miles south of where we are now,” Ruckman said, with a new tower and the increased wattage the station’s upgraded signal ‘‘should be heard in the Lexington Park area, Leonardtown and Hollywood, and probably most of Mechanicsville.” To the east, he said, communities near the bay on the Eastern Shore should also be able to hear the broadcasts. The church will now start looking for land in St. Mary’s City to build its tower, ‘‘or we may rent some tower space” in the approved area, he said.

‘‘I started thinking about this in 1994,” Ruckman said, ‘‘and the church has been working on this project since 1995. It’s been a good many years that I’ve been praying for this, and it’s finally happening.”