'Living with Joy!' radio work complex

Melanie B. Smith

Nov. 6, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Evangelist Phil Waldrep's far-reaching radio ministry may one day make his voice as familiar as that of Chuck Swindoll or David Jeremiah, both popular evangelical radio preachers.

Waldrep's new 25-minute daily program "Living with Joy! Radio" is on a satellite network and on stations from coast to coast and in Alaska and Hawaii.

But getting on the air is complicated.

First comes getting time slots. Many stations do not have available time, he said.

Next is creating program content.

Waldrep said 80 percent of programming is adapted from recorded live presentations, many of them from his conferences. This is the process: His staff gets broadcast rights and permission to edit speeches. A company makes transcripts of recordings, and Waldrep edits them. Sound engineer David Vest deletes the unneeded content. Then Waldrep and associate Sam McElroy record intros at Vest's studio in Priceville.

Tim Simpson does professional voiceovers. Vest makes sure the length is exact, sometimes stretching or slowing speech electronically. A company then syndicates the programs.

Then there is follow up.

Waldrep said he uses InService America, based in Forest, Va., to handle calls to a toll-free number given out on air. He said broadcast ministers Swindoll and Charles Stanley use the same company. InService staffers process requests and donations, and specially trained prayer counselors help callers in crisis, Waldrep said.

InService supplies Waldrep's ministry a daily report of responses and donations. About three calls a day are non-donation, ministry-related, he said.

"We're able to watch who responds," he said. "There's a strong station in Boise. I've never been to Boise. ... Every day there are calls from Boise. We're Southern boys but have resonated well there."

Waldrep's staff fills requests for materials offered, including books written by guests. He promotes his conferences on the radio and plans to offer a CD at Christmas.

Waldrep introduced the program at the National Religious Broadcasters conference last March in Nashville. He said his goal was to get on 25 full power stations, but stations number 69, not counting repeaters. Stations in places like Louisville, Ky., knew him because he advertises his Louisville conferences with them.

"Radio is all about relationships," he said.

Waldrep said he added staff members Emily Bryan and Penny Owens, whose jobs mainly relate to the radio program, bringing the full-time staff to eight.

Earlier broadcast ministry from Waldrep included radio specials.

Phil Waldrep Ministries' office is just outside Decatur's city limits on Old Moulton Road.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0047-39506333