Date: September 8, 2017
Host: Jim Schneider
Listen: MP3 | Order
Today marked 30 years of Crosstalk broadcasts on VCY America, a milestone that we praise God for!
This anniversary edition featured excerpts from the very first Crosstalk program that aired on September 8, 1987. It was an exciting evening because at that time, Crosstalk originated at 8pm Central Time.
May 15th, 1961, was the start of a daily program that was called, ‘Sacred Stylings’. That program aired over radio station WBON. It all began with a group of young people under guidance from their Bible club director, Vic Eliason, and it became the genesis for the VCY broadcast ministry.
Eventually the program was moved to radio station WTOS on March 1 of 1962. That tenure lasted 18 months with the program moving to WMIL. Then in 1964 it moved back to WBON but Vic was able to lease the station for 19 hours per day.
Eventually WBON was transferred to what’s now VCY America on December 31st, 1969.
On June 1st, 1973, the WBON call letters were changed to WVCY, which stood for Wisconsin Voice of Christian Youth. This was to honor those young individuals who approached their Bible club director, Vic Eliason, and under his direction, pulled together their resources to bring about Christian broadcasting in Southeast Wisconsin.
One day while Vic was working, a woman called and said, ‘Mr. Eliason, do you know what’s happening in the public schools?’ Vic confessed he didn’t know because he was busy operating the station. In frustration, the caller said, ‘Unless you tell your listeners, God is going to hold you accountable!’
This hit Vic hard. He knew he had the technology and the phone lines installed to go on the air, so he informed the caller to stay on the line. He then faded the music down and informed the listeners that there’s a woman on the phone who’s concerned about a matter taking place in the schools and then he asked her to tell the story.
That’s the foundation of this history lesson, but there’s more, as Jim takes listeners through the remainder of the time-line and notes Crosstalk’s connection with the In Focus TV program, the installation of a satellite uplink that allowed the program to be aired nationwide, a 12 year old who was the first Crosstalk caller, and much more.
Join us for this interesting ‘look back’ as Jim and callers reflect on 30 years of the program we call ‘Crosstalk’.
