WCFC-TV38 was in some ways, a typical television station. Cameras, studio, set’s, lights, video tape machines, a master control, offices. But in other ways it was different. The call letters, W-C-F-C stood for “Winning Chicagoland for Christ.” At the time, TV-38 was the largest, independent Christian television station in America and part of an emerging trend that saw the rise and public fall of famous televangelists like Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggert, the emergence of the religious right on the conservative political landscape, and a mainstreaming of the American Pentecostal movement.

TV-38 also nurtured a grass-roots ecumenical movement that crossed ecclesiastical, racial and economic barriers that had divided Christians in Chicago for decades.

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What A Fellowship – Rev. Clay Evans & the AARC Mass Choir from Tim Frakes on Vimeo.

How about some Gospel music! The Rev. Dr. Clay Evans, Pastor of the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church was a major Gosple recording artist in the 1970’s and 80’s. Evans bought airtime on TV-38 and made regular appearances during telethons. It’s all part of a new documentary I am producing on WCFC TV-38, once the largest independent Christian television station in America.

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The half hour broadcast version will air every Sunday at noon in December (beginning this Sunday) on ABC 7.2 Live Well Network Chicago.

A longer version will be offered on DVD this spring, available through the Lombard Historical Society.

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Dipping into the wayback machine, I dug up the last story I produced at WCFC TV38 in late 1989. TV-38 was in the process of purchasing land and building a new facility at 38 South Peoria on Chicago’s near West side.

At the same time, their rented facilities at 1 North Wacker Drive were slated for the recking ball to make way for a new skyscraper.

In the interim, TV-38 temporarily moved their studios into an old warehouse occupied by Teen Challenge, a Christian ministry that helped young men battle substance abuse. Over the years, a number of Teen Challenge clients had served successfully as interns and freelancers in TV-38’s production facilities.

A few weeks after this story aired, I accepted a new position with Don Hancock at Performance Communications in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, and my broadcast career came to an early close.

Many TV-38 staff appear in footage in this story including Lynn Weaver Anderson, David Oseland David Franklin,
John Haney, Debra Revitzer Jim Tillery and others.

It’s all part of a new documentary I’m working about the history of WCFC TV-38, once the largest, independent Christian television station in America.

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With all the talk this week relating to the summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, I decided to dig up Peace, Arms and a Test of Faith, a 1992 documentary I produced for Jean Martensen and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, through the ELCA Department for Communication and the Division for Church in Society.

We recorded most of this program in the Rocky Mountain Synod of the ELCA at a conference attended by ELCA members who were actively engaged in social opposition to the nuclear arms industry and specifically the re-opening of the Rocky Flats Nuclear Arsenal near Boulder, Colorado. The conference was also attended by members of the ELCA who were then employed in the U.S. nuclear defense industry either in formal military roles or as scientists.

The keynote speaker at the event was the late Dr. Timothy Lull, then Academic Dean and Professor of Systematic Theology at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California. Lull was a prolific writer and widely sought speaker with a particular interest in the life and work of Martin Luther.

During filming at a protest, I was nearly arrested along with peace activists as we recorded their provocation of Rocky Flats security personnel and successful attempts to get arrested themselves. At the time, I was struck by the contrast in costumes between the two groups; the peace activists with their Birkenstock sandals and tie-dye shirts and the security personnel with their camoflage uniforms and aviator sunglasses. Everyone has their herd.

Interviews included:
Mag Seaman, American Friends Service Committee
Dr. Gary Rochau, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Rev. Nelson Bock, Araria Higher Education Center, Denver, Colorado
Melody Buck, Peace and Justice Activist
Dr. Timothy Lull, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary
Janet Miller, Hill Air Force Base, Utah
Lorne Matheson, NOAA Space Environment Lab Boulder, Colorado

Typically I misspelled Matheson’s title using the name “NOAH” instead of NOAA, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. Oh well, it was a church video…

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Sanctuary LCFS Promo from Tim Frakes on Vimeo.

Lutheran Child and Family Services traces its roots to 1873 when several Lutheran churches
in northern Illinois established the German Evangelical Lutheran Orphan Home in Addison, Illinois.
Opening its doors that year to six young children, the orphan home grew quickly and expanded its services.
Today, Lutheran Child and Family Services works to improve the well-being of people across the state of
Illinois by protecting children, strengthening families and building futures for those who have experienced trauma
including people of all faiths, races, orientations and ethnic backgrounds.

Join us for the next edition of Greater Chicago Broadcast Ministries Sanctuary as we hear three Chicago area stories of people who’s lives have been
transformed through hard work, expertise and passionate, faith-based compassion.
Watch Sanctuary, every Sunday in June at Noon, on ABC 7.2 LiveWell Network in Chicago.

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Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther kicked off the Protestant Reformation, which contributed to the birth of our modern age. In this one-hour special — filmed on location in Europe — Rick Steves tells the story of a humble monk who lived a dramatic life. Rick visits key sites relating to the Reformation (including Erfurt, Wittenberg, and Rome) and explores the complicated political world of 16th-century Europe — from indulgences to iconoclasts, and from the printing press to the Counter-Reformation. It’s a story of power, rebellion, and faith that you’ll never forget.

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In this edition of Sanctuary I produced for Greater Chicago Broadcast Ministries, we meet the Alkhoury family, and take a closer look at growing evidence of widespread persecution of religious minorities, as well as efforts by faith communities here in Chicago, the United States government, and the United Nations to find ways to support and protect some of the worlds most vulnerable people.

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How’s this for a selfie? Working on a documentary on the history of WCFC TV38, I unearthed these vintage 1980’s stand-up’s featuring your’s truly as a cub reporter on the weekly news magazine, Page Two. We covered all kinds of stories, often with a conservative bent that makes me cringe these days. Thanks to Wade Bobbitt, David Oseland and Clark Gray among many others for help getting my career launched and not making too much fun as I played “reporter.”

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