“The Bible has 365 verses about fear,” he said. “Interestingly, one for each day of the year. We’re also asking people to email with any prayer needs they have, and with this pandemic, there are many. With our music and other programming, we offer a lot of encouragement from God.”
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The co-manager of the Internet radio station cohosts the program “New Mornings” weekdays from 6 to 9 a.m. with Melody Morris.
“We continue to do our morning show live,” Nance said. “Our staff is fairly small so we can easily practice social distancing. Our 9 a.m. to noon guy, Pete Vecchi, voice-tracks in advance of his show and Madison Taylor, who does noon to 3 p.m., has a home studio. Afternoon drivetime host, Stan Ellingson, comes in for his show live. Our engineer Bob Morris is there when necessary and can log on for some things remotely. Volunteers are working from home and we will handle our own cleaning.”
“We’re able to easily work with others with the social distancing since we have two studios,” Nance said. “On our morning show, I’m in the main studio and Melody Morris in the newsroom, with glass dividing the two studios. Later in the day, when others are using the on-air studio, the newsroom can be used for production and other things, much like most stations.”
Faith and Friends, co-founded by Nance and Morris in 2011, continues to broadcast online during the pandemic but the station’s annual fundraising concert has been postponed. The event, featuring Sandi Patty at Victoria Theatre, was originally booked for May 16 and has been rescheduled for Aug. 21.
“While we’re able to continue pretty much as normal, our financial resources may take a hit,” Nance said. “So, we’re encouraging people to make a special donation to the station, which is a 501c3 nonprofit. Our spring concert is one of our major fundraisers, but we won’t see any of that until after the concert in August when the Victoria issues our check.”
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“A key message we’re sharing on a regular basis is, ‘Social distance with others … closeness with God,’ which speaks to our concern for others as well as our relationship with the Lord,” Nance said.
For more information about the station, visit www.faithandfriendsradio.com.
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