TONIGHT, October 2 at 6:05: St. Paul's On the Air

"This is St. Paul’s On the Air: A radio program brought to you by St. Paul’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Kewanee, Illinois, where you know you’ve been to church: no gimmicks, no compromises, the talk is straight, and we feast on sacred things. Join us."

Those words will be heard after the choir sings the first stanza of "Saints and Martyrs and All Angels." And that's how our local radio show will debut tonight on the local Kewanee station, WKEI am radio, 1450 on the dial.

The voice continues: "Our moderator and discussion leader is . . . me: the Rev. Fr. Burnell F. Eckardt Jr., Pastor of St. Paul’s here in Kewanee, Illinois.

"I’m sitting with a small panel of listeners around a couple of microphones carefully positioned to help you get into the room with us and listen along.

"Our format for the show is catechetical. That means talking, listening, and discovering together. It’s a theological forum of the Church catholic, including a topical discussion of Apostolic doctrine, historic liturgy and rubrics of The Mass, the early church Fathers, The Reformation, and what’s on your mind today. We invite questions from the panel or from you. If you should have a question about anything having to do with the Christian faith, and you’d like to hear it discussed on this show, you may email it to us, using the email address pastor@stpaulskewanee.com, or write us at

St. Paul’s On the Air

109 S. Elm Street

Kewanee, IL 61443

"If you want to learn more about me or our church, log on at www.stpaulskeweanee.org."

The 25-minute show has two parts, first a Q & A entitled “Why?” which is named after our Sunday morning segment, called “Why,” a question beginning with the word “Why.” So, as I ask during Sunday morning class, “Does anyone have a Why?” The question on the air tonight will be "Why is worship so formal at St. Paul’s?"

The second segment is called "Searching the Scriptures" and will be dealing with Genesis chapter 1 tonight.

The show is already in the can, with a few minor glitches, but on the whole, it's an exciting new venture here. We'll see where it leads.