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Turn Your Radio On, Episode Three

Written by Wood Hughes

Chapter Seven

December 1633, Grantville, State of Thuringia, United States of Europe

It never got easier, Dr. Nichols thought as he welcomed John Chalker and his helper Georg Fleitner into his private office. The best way was just to go ahead and give the patient his diagnosis. "Reverend Chalker, it appears you have early stages of a left ventricular myocardial infarction. It's a form of heart failure."

Nichols let the words soak in for a moment, then continued, "I'll try not to go into lecture mode but give you some basic information and tell you how we need to manage it.

"The heart is a pump. That's it. Left-sided heart failure backs up fluid in the lungs. Some of the classic signs are shortness of breath, fatigue, and coughing bouts. The cough may have pinkish tinged fluid in it. So far, yours doesn't, but that's caused by high blood pressure pushing not only fluid but some red blood cells into the air sacks in the lungs. That's what I learned by listening to your lungs and heart, a distinct set of crackles and a murmur.

"We can expect future symptoms to include pooling of fluids in your lower extremities. Lower legs and ankles will start to swell like balloons. This, along with shortness of breath and weight gain due to water retention can come on slowly over an extended period."

Nichols opened the patient folder. "Now, here's what we can do to make sure you're around for a good long time to come. First of all, low salt is essential. Limit your intake of meat. Keep your feet elevated whenever possible and stay off them as much as possible. The heart has to do a lot less work when you're reclining than when you're standing up."

"But what about my sermons?" Chalker asked.

"Reverend Chalker, I've seen you conduct a service," Nichols replied. "You just have to ask yourself is it more important to conduct the sermon or to minister to your congregation? The fewer sermons you give, especially the way you give them, the longer you'll be able to be the head pastor of your flock."

No, it never got easier. But it helped to know that the choice remained in the hands of the patient.

****

"Reverend Fischer! Reverend Fischer!"

Fischer turned to see Phyllis Dobbs hurrying up the trolley aisle toward him. After she sat next to him and caught her breath, she burst out, "It's so wonderful what you and the church are going to do with all that money! When Slater came home last night and told me about it, I remembered this.

Phyllis fumbled through her large canvas grocery bag until she found and pulled out a large, gray paperback book with a black and white photograph of a woman on the front. "I bought this at a high school fund raiser a few years ago. That was back when I was working at the school cafeteria, you know. It's the story of a Pentecostal female preacher who starts her own evangelical ministry. I never did get around to reading it myself. Back up-time I was going to give it to one of my friends in Fairmont who went to the Four Square Church, but I just never did.

"Maybe it might help you." Phyllis thrust the book into Fischer's hands.

The title of his new book was Sister Aimee: The Life of Aimee Semple McPherson by Daniel Mark Epstein. There was a quote on the back out of a review that said, "With her radio ministry and her theatrical sermons, Sister Aimee ushered in the modern religious age."

Fischer pulled off one mitten and started to thumb through the book. Some pictures of a tall woman and her children, then of what looked to be a great round sanctuary, finally of the same woman on a crowded stage with a microphone.

A female minister? Fischer decided that this was a book he was going to have to find time to read. “Thank you very much, Sister Dobbs. I'll be sure to read this and return it as soon as possible."

"No need in that, Reverend," Phyllis replied, rejecting his offer with a motion of her free hand. "I feel like I owe you for helping Slater find the Lord and saving his hand. I just don't know what we would have done if it weren't for you. He's like a new man!"

"Trust me, Sister, it wasn't me. It was the Holy Spirit who touched your husband's hand and, evidently, his heart."

****

Fischer came back to the book after his talk with Chalker and a considerable amount or prayerful study. It seemed that at every opportunity, the Protestant faith of the future had rewritten the understanding of the present day Church.

“Dieter,” Chalker grinned. “You’ve got to understand that when Martin Luther nailed that poster to the church door, that was just the start!

“All Christians are just men and men make mistakes. Look at Peter. In Matthew 26:74:75, it says, ‘Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.’

“Since God’s purpose concerning man is to seek and to save that which is lost, to be worshiped by man, and to build a body of believers in the image of His Son, the priority reason-for-being of the Church is to be a channel of God’s purpose to build a body of saints being perfected in the image of His Son as laid out in Ephesians 4:11-16 and First Corinthians 12:28 and 14:12.”

Chalker paused as he recalled a lesson learned early in his life.

“There’s something else you’re going to struggle with, Dieter. Sister Aimee’s three husbands. But, as you’ll see, each one of them was sent to her to help her fulfill God’s mission.

“Even in leaving her second husband, she followed God’s plan as Jesus said in Luke 12: 51:53, ‘Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Seeing the troubled look on Fischer’s face, Chalker smiled. “There’s been a lot smarter men that you and me hash out these issues in the next three hundred plus years. Even the Catholics of our time have allowed more women into their church leadership and have found a work around that allows their church members to annul their marriages a lot easier than in this era.

“Anytime you have a hard time reconciling what you’ve been taught, remember what Jesus said in Mathew 7:20, ‘Wherefore by their fruits, ye shall know them.’

“You think of it that way, and you won’t go far wrong.”

****

What a book it was! The adventures of this woman of faith from that other future read like an up-time adventure novel.

But it wasn't until she left her second husband that the book started to reveal to Fischer a model for how he could advance the faith in this time. In very long, scientific words that he would have to look up, the book seemed to say that a scientifically creditable reason might lie beneath faith healing. That there may be a link to the chemicals the body produces when in the throes of hysteria, and physical changes.

Fischer wasn't so sure that he believed that St. John the Baptist should be lumped in with whoever this "Sister Teresa" was or if it was right to question how God decided to accomplish his miracles. Still, however imperfect the explanation, perhaps it could help him recognize the congregants who offer fertile ground to allow God's will to be accomplished in their life.

"Neuropeptides. Synovial membranes. What words are these?" Fischer read out loud. But it was clear that this author believed that even if the miracles had occurred using purely scientific means that made them no less miracles of the spirit. But profound belief still needed the physical touch of the healer to finish the job.

Fischer marked his place and laid the book on his lap. So the power of faith depends on the collective belief of the members present. He remembered that in the Bible it said, "Wherever two or more of you are gathered in His name . . ."

The more people believe miracles are going to happen, the more miracles do happen. Thinking back to the atmosphere of the revival that had brought him to the Pentecostal faith, he understood what happened. "I must learn to involve the congregation in a much more emotional way. More like Reverend Chalker would have if he were my age."

When Fischer tried to read on, he could hardly concentrate for all the thoughts that were running through his mind.

****

Marc Kronzburg was engaging in his favorite morning pastime—reading the local newspapers at Bridges Books and Coffeehouse. Not that Der Kronz cared two Pfennigs about any story that the local newspapers reported on. For that, he certainly could depend on the better and faster coverage of his own beloved radio station.

No. Der Kronz was again reading the advertisements.

"Oh no! They could have bought five more thirty second spots for what they wasted on this half page!" He grimaced. Another sip of the house espresso followed by a scribbled note to record a new concept. It would be ready for his pitch for the next he saw the shop owner who had placed this poorly conceived waste of money. Only then did he turn the page to feast on the delectable agony of more missed advertising dollars. Not to mention their resulting commissions.

"Mr. Kronzburg?"

Marc looked up at the unexpected interruption. "Mrs. Kurger! What a wonderful surprise to see you here this morning. I was just thinking about you.

"See . . ." Marc bolted to his feet and flipped the newspaper back a few pages to point at a half page ad. "Great stuff for the Kurger Emporium!

"I was just thinking how much better it would work for you if we put a series of thirties on the station to instruct all our listeners to run out and buy a paper to look at it!"

"Yes, I'm sure we can talk about that soon, Mr. Kronzburg," Maria said, cutting Marc off. "Right now, however, I'd like to talk with you about buying an hour."

Maria could practically see the wheels rolling in Marc's eyes. "An hour? Why, that's one hundred and twenty thirty second spots! That's wonderful! How long of a period would you like to space out this spot buy? May I suggest . . ."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kronzburg." Maria knew that it was Marc's nature to take charge of any conversation and lead it to buying spot ads on VOA. "That's not what I meant. What we'd like is to buy a whole hour on your radio station every Saturday night."

For once, Der Kronz was quiet. Without moving one muscle in his face, he sat back down, reached out with his left hand, found the cup of espresso sitting before him and brought it up to his lips. After gulping it down, he finally replied, "Let me see if I have this straight, Mrs. Kurger. You and Mr. Kurger want to buy a full one hour block of time to advertise Kurger's Emporium on The Voice of America every Saturday night for . . ."

The concept was boggling. Even to Marc's well-crafted sales imagination.

". . . how long?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kronzburg," Maria replied. She sat in the chair next to Marc and began again. "Let's start from the beginning."

Chapter Eight

". . . So until next time, this is Brother Fischer of the Grantville Pentecostal Church inviting you to listen to our closing hymn sung by Sister Jennifer Copenhaver and the children's choir of our church. You have a blessed day!"

"Come and listen in to a radio station

Where the mighty host of heaven sing

Turn your radio on (Turn your radio on)”

December 1633, Grantville, State of Thuringia, United States of Europe

John Grover arrived at the station early, but everyone else was in the office waiting on him. "Good morning, everyone! Gosh, and I thought I'd get here in time to have a cup of coffee before our meeting."

After shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries, he looked toward his receptionist, "Helga, could you please get me and anyone else who would like a refill some coffee? And ask Franz to join us in the conference room when he's free, please."

John took his seat at the head of the table. Roy and Jennifer Copenhaver sat to his left and were joined there by Maria Kurger. Brother Fischer took the chair opposite his, while the other representatives of the station management, Deanna Dee and Marc Kronzburg took their seats to his right.

John smiled. "Roy, good to see you and Jennifer. How are things going in Franconia? Hope we didn't have to drag you away from government business."

"No. It turned out that I had to be in Grantville this afternoon for a conference with the Federal Reserve." Shaking his head, Roy added, "We're real shorthanded over there in Fulda. Most of the powers that be still suspect that we're Swedish lapdogs and are leery of anything we propose. Right now this new State of Thuringia is in name only. It's going to take time."

John now turned his attention to Fischer. "I got up early this morning to listen into your devotional, Brother Fischer. I can see why your church is so excited about this proposal. I especially liked the song Jennifer closed with. I remember listening to Ray Stevens sing that, years ago. It was always one of my favorites."

"Thank you, Mr. Grover." Fischer smiled and gestured to Jennifer. "Sister Copenhaver suggested the use of that song before our second devotional. Something that I said my first time on the radio made her think of it. We've had a lot of people come up to us and compliment her version of it."

"Well, that sure goes a long way to explaining all the fan mail we've had to handle for you since you started sitting in for Reverend Chalker."

Jennifer glanced at her husband as Roy broke in. "I guess that brings us to our offer. John. Marc, have you told John what we want to do?"

Marc Kronzburg snapped to attention and began his pitch, "Yes sir, Mr. Copenhaver. I think it's very good . . . for a starting position."

John added, "It definitely is that. That's another reason I wanted to schedule this meeting after Reverend Fischer's appearance this morning. I wanted to be sure that he wasn't soliciting our listeners for commercial gain. I was pleased to hear . . ."

Just then Franz Peck walked into the room. "Franz. You know Reverend Fischer and Jennifer Copenhaver. Have you ever noticed anyone from their group asking for donations or money over the air?"

At this unexpected question, all the church people immediately swung their bodies around to see what Franz was going to say.

"No, Herr Grover. Reverend Fischer has never actually mentioned how to write him at any address. He hasn't even given out the station address either."

"That's great. Thanks for your time." Franz turned and headed back to his basement studio.

Roy swung back to put his full attention on John. He leaned over the table and glared. "Exactly what are you implying, John?"

John leaned back in his chair as he responded, "No offense, Roy. I just wanted to make sure that nothing was going on at my station that the General Electronics board would consider to be a bad business practice. After all, after just three devotionals, we're dealing with more fan mail for Reverend Fischer than any other program on our airwaves. Even the ones that run daily and our most popular weekly shows like Robin of the Committees of Correspondence.

"Now that I've been assured that we're working on a level playing field . . ." Grover took a sip of his coffee and picked up the file in front of him. "Let me tell you what my first thoughts are on your proposal.

"First of all, there is no way we can sell you programming rights to an entire hour. We must keep at least five minutes at the top and bottom of every hour for our news staff."

Roy, Maria, and Marc smiled, realizing that this negotiation was going to work. If John was thinking of ways to modify and improve the church offer, he had already agreed to it in principle.

"The second problem I have is that it's an open-ended agreement. We need to add some language that allows both your church and my station to terminate the agreement under specific circumstances. If you don't pay or you harm the other programming we put on the air, we want to retain the right to cut you off."

Roy smiled. "Neither of those terms poses a problem, John. Jennifer here has been working on what kind of program we're planning to put on."

Jennifer piped up, "John, you're going to be very pleased with our program. First of all, we're not planning to be 'preachy' on the show itself or solicit donations directly.

"Our plan is to produce The Grand Ole Opry meets Star Search. We'll have a good Christian message, lots of good music and try to bring in whatever musical talent that responds to our talent contest auditions during the week." She paused a moment and decided the fact that the Elders of the church had scheduled the auditions to take place immediately before the regularly scheduled Bible study wasn't important to the issue at hand. "We'll mix that in with a show band and some of the talent from the church performing some up-time country, some gospel music, and some bluegrass. Maybe we can get the Old Folks band to come in for a guest appearance. Or Benny Pierce and Minnie—they're popular already, so we can mix them with the new talent. Of course, Brother Fischer will be the show host and he'll have a segment where he tells the children a morally positive story. If you've listened to the devotional, you know how good he is with children."

After Jennifer finished laying out the proposed show format, they discussed some questions on specific details with Deanna Dee and John. When everyone ran out of questions, John tapped his pencil on the tabletop for a moment and turned to his program manager, "Well, Deanna Dee, what do you think?"

All this time, Deanna Dee had been jotting down notes of the specifics of the church proposal as it applied to her. "I've got to tell you, John, I like it. I used to watch Ed McMahon all the time on Star Search. It really pulled in the audience. I even used to watch the repeats of the old Ted Mack Show on that cable channel that showed all the really old TV repeats. It was one of the most successful shows of its era as well. I think it might have actually started up on radio. Then it moved to the early TV broadcasts."

"We'll have to add some man hours for station personnel to make the show work technically. I'll probably want to add on an additional janitor on Sunday morning to clean up after everyone's left."

Deanna Dee flipped through her notes, continuing, "The biggest thing we've got to look at is how do we keep the show in the critical hours. I'd suggest we set the schedule so the show starts on the first top or bottom of the hour following dusk. That way as the day gets longer, we don't have to keep moving the show around the fixed newscasts. It will start at 6:00 now, then move to 6:30 and so on as sunset changes."

After another round of questions, the discussion finally got to money.

"Marc," John looked to his sales manager. "How much do you think we should charge for this block of time?"

Finally Der Kronz could do his thing. "Mr. Grover, since we're keeping the two five minute newsbreaks, we could just charge them for fifty minutes at the one minute rate."

Roy responded to that suggestion with a laugh. "That would be ...