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Tuning in for God

By Josephine Reader

Communicating the essentials of the Christian faith to those who don’t understand is what the Christian Broadcasting Association is all about.

The Association uses top rating radio stations like NewstalkZB and Radio Sport to reach mass audiences of people who don’t go to church.

Phil Guyan, CBA’s managing trustee says, “86 percent of this audience don’t regard religion or spirituality as important in their lives. Which is exactly why we’re there.”

There have been several key achievements during CBA’s ten-year ministry, one of which is the “Real Life” programme. Playing every Sunday night between 8pm-9m on Newstalk ZB and Radiosport, Real Life is the most-listened to show in that timeslot across all NZ radio stations.

The programme features John Cowan talking with high-profile guests such as Paul Holmes, Dave Dobbyn and Graeme Henry about their life, passions, faith, spirituality and “God-stuff”.

When talking about the factors that have contributed to CBA’s success, Mr Guyan pays tribute to the almost 900 people who make up the Association’s prayer taskforce. Through regular mailings the taskforce is kept up-to-date with developments, and is asked to pray for aspects of CBA’s ministry.

Mr Guyan also recognises the contribution of “talented and professional” presenters such as Rob Harley (pictured) and Petra Bagust, saying that the Association wouldn’t be as successful without them and the other people who support CBA’s work, including those who provide financial backing.

“We are blessed to have such great supporters,” he says. “Quality programming is also essential, and this is about good radio and communicating the Christian faith,” he says.

Considering what makes good radio before considering how to communicate the faith is quite deliberate, says Mr Guyan, because “if a programme isn’t good, it won’t be listened to”. He adds that if radio station support is lost because CBA programmes rate poorly, then there is no vehicle to communicate the Word.

There has been plenty of learning along the way, too, according to Mr Guyan, who describes a Good Friday show from several years ago as great radio that on reflection didn’t necessarily “communicate the character of loving God” because of its format.

The Easter programme averages 300,000 listeners, and other successful programmes include the Scrubcutter series, which are 90-second spiritual snippets that inspire listeners to think about life’s issues in an entertaining way.

Mr Guyan says the challenge for the future is to keep fresh and creative, which means developing new programmes. Developing funding for these shows is also a priority, he says, with a need to look for new sources of income. Most of CBA’s work is funded by donations, with the remaining 15-20 percent funded by NZ on Air.

A further testament to CBA’s success is the reputation they are starting to build among broadcasters. CBA was approached directly by radio station Viva (rather than CBA pitching an idea to the station) to produce a spiritual segment for broadcast on Sundays at lunchtime.

While progress on the goal of having 10 separate programmes running on five top stations within five years has gone a little slower than planned (this was an initial goal), Mr Guyan is happy with the steps made to date, and says “it is good to have something to aim for”.

In the Association’s marketing material, Ian Grant, who is also a programme presenter says, “CBA is achieving its mission because it’s in the market-place where the Gospel message has to be. Unfortunately, so many people think that by putting the Gospel message in a church up the road from the marketplace you’ll draw attention to it, but you won’t. You’ve got to be down where the people are buying, selling, talking and chatting.”

To learn more about CBA’s ministry, check out the their website www.cba.org.nz