A close friend of mine who happens to be Catholic and who lives in the Dallas Metroplex was recently invited to be a guest on a local Catholic talk radio show there. I have yet to listen to the interview as it has not been posted yet but it may well serve as a subject for a future article. In the meantime I took the occasion of his interview to learn a bit about both the station and the network of which it is a part.

The Guadalupe Radio Network (GRN) serves Catholic listeners across Texas with twelve different stations. The closest station to the Tyler area is the North Texas station located in the Dallas area or at 910 on the am radio dial. So why would someone who writes on East Texas culture and events write an article on a religious radio station a couple of hours out of his jurisdiction?

There are a couple of answers to that question. First off with stations everywhere are now streaming their broadcasts, it’s possible to reside a hundred miles away or more and remain in the cultural loop. And the GRN broadcasts to most of our state. It’s not unreasonable to expect an affiliate to spring up closer to our area. The only branch outside the state that I’m aware of is located in Washington DC by the way.

The Guadalupe Network was founded in 1997, and has as its goal to help educate Catholics on the fundamentals of their faith as well as to stand up for conservative pro-family values in a society that increasingly rejects them. The format is all, or nearly all topical. While the network is very Catholic in its theology and its views on modern society and politics even the most ardent protestant is likely to find a natural ally in the station.

Many socially conservative Tylerites are likely to find an agenda with which they can sympathize. Recent broadcasts addressed issues like prolife activism, the abstinence movement, and parochial and private education.

Much like Tyler’s religious broadcasting, GRN is a non- profit that subsists on the donations of listeners, as well as grants from businesses, church groups and community organizations. So how wide will the stations reach be? I think it remains to be seen.

The network’s agenda is likely to appeal to Texans from all over the state regardless of theological stripe, but I’m curious whether or not the more exclusive denominations will be able to overlook the station’s orthodoxy in order to unify around its family values message.

I’ll confess (no pun intended) I remain unsure how often I’ll listen in, not due to religious differences but time constraints. For those in our area who would like to check out the broadcasts or perhaps make a donation visit the website at http://grnonline.info/.