WHEN LEADERS STUMBLE
Although the majority of radio ministries operate within careful guidelines, the public nature of broadcasting means that moral or financial failure becomes public as well. Following the televangelist scandals of the late 1980s, religious broadcasting's leaders stiffened their resolve to police themselves.

Thus far, the accountability system has worked reasonably well, although broadcasters' misbehavior has not ceased. Last December, Darrow Parker, host for seven years of the Radio Bible Class Day of Discovery and Sounds of the Times programs, resigned after confessing to "personal failures and marital infidelity." In October 1992, the Solid Rock Radio board of directors voted to suspend broadcasts after host David Hocking admitted "moral failure in recent months that led to sexual sin."

In March, the ECFA terminated the membership of People to People host Bob George after he pleaded no contest to soliciting a prostitute. Bott Broadcasting Company pulled George's show immediately. "George repeatedly failed to provide documentation refuting the charges as we requested," says Dick Bott, Sr., who heads the seven-station network in Overland Park, Kansas. "If organized Christianity does not take this seriously, we lose a lot of credibility." George has denied wrongdoing and claims his arrest was an error by police.

Questions of accountability are also being raised about former ECFA member Hank Hanegraaff, president of Christian Research Institute (CRI) in San Juan Capistrano, California. He is host of the Bible Answerman and author of the bestselling book Christianity in Crisis.

A 35-member "Group for CRI Accountability," which includes several terminated employees, allege Hanegraaff withdrew CRI from ECFA in 1992 so that he could keep $500,000 in book royalties from Christianity in Crisis; secretly borrowed $100,000 from CRI as a down payment for an expensive residence; and intimidated, manipulated, and fired workers without cause. The CRI board of directors has issued a response, saying that the "allegations are groundless and CRI will be fully vindicated when the facts are fully known."

The federal government has also exercised a watchdog role in dealing with religious broadcasting. Last year the Internal Revenue Service revoked the tax-exempt status of Falwell's Old Time Gospel Hour for two years after determining that the program's assets and personnel had been used as a political action committee. The ministry paid $50,000 in taxes in a settlement.

Last summer a House Ways and Means subcommittee held hearings to investigate 21 radio and television evangelists accused of violating the IRS's 501(c)(3) code for nonprofit organizations.

"Not all of them are operated by people with halos," subcommittee chairman J. J. Pickle (D-Tex.) said of nonprofits under review. The subcommittee's report kept the names of the evangelists confidential, but complaints included excessive compensation to family members; treating employees as "ministers" to avoid employment-tax liability; falsifying large contributions to overseas charities; and lying about financial hardships to generate giving. In a report to the full committee in May, Pickle said, "Carefully targeted reform measures are needed to improve compliance with tax laws."

A NEW PARADIGM
The networks and programs that survive and prosper have earned a reputation for integrity. The largest noncommercial network originates at Chicago's Moody Bible Institute, which owns 16 stations and has 275 affiliates carrying programs. Among its live talk shows are Open Line, Midday Connection, and Prime Time America.

Jim Warren has hosted Prime Time America since it began 14 years ago. Warren's regular guests include secular experts in such areas as gardening, automobiles, and sports. "I want to encourage people to think beyond the Christian ghetto," Warren says.

The largest Christian radio network, Salem Communications, owns 26 stations and has 384 affiliates. Already, the Camarillo, California-based network has half a dozen talk programs, including one featuring Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry. Conservative columnist Cal Thomas begins a 9 P.M.-to-midnight issues-oriented show this month. Also this month, Salem will syndicate WYLL's Chicago Talks, dubbing it the Dick Staub Show for a national audience. Chicago Talks has gained an audience beyond core Christian radio listeners by discussing more than conventional Christian issues. Staub says, "There are times when I editorialize and take a very strong position, but we try to give people both sides of an issue. I don't feel the need to nail everybody."

Open debate with disagreements expressed by guests and callers is healthy, Staub says. "Randall Terry is totally convinced he's right on every subject he discusses, and he's there to persuade you that he's right. That's his style, but I'm interested in getting a broader hearing."

With Christian radio's new growth and new constituencies have come new chalenges. Initially, much of religious broadcasting was denominationally based or revival-oriented. Today, parachurch professionals and other Christian ministries are profoundly reshaping the industry. In 1990, the Rutherford Institute, a Charlottesville, Virginia, religious-liberties organization, began airing a two-minute Freedom Under Fire spot on 48 stations. Less than four years later the program is aired on 970 outlets, with a toll-free number at the end.

Likewise, Charles Colson started his daily four-minute BreakPoint in 1991. It is now on 300 stations. Colson, the author of a dozen books and the founder of Prison Fellowship—which has 60 field offices—is hardly unknown in Christian circles. Yet Prison Fellowship has received 80,000 new contacts via Breakpoint.

Equally significant, the unofficial alliance between Christian and secular conservatives on political issues has become a highly potent and nationwide force. The attention to political issues has shifted the focus of religious broadcasting toward closing the cultural divide in America and catering to the felt needs of listeners.

From the earliest days of broadcasting, religion and radio have shared mutually ambitious aspirations. The question of whether contemporary Christian broadcasters can continue to perform their high-wireless act of balancing politics and piety is certain to be the talk of the airwaves for years to come.